Let’s hear it for the boys

They are playing for their country in a foreign land, but the only ones cheering for them are their coach, and the parents who could afford the trip to Bangor, Maine for the Little League World Series.

Yes, the World Series.

Our boys are playing in the World Series and I bet most everyone and his cousin don’t even know about it.

Fourteen boys of Manila’s ILLAM (International Little League Association of Manila) team made sports history by being the first Philippine team to play in the World Series (senior division).

In 1992, another division, the juniors (ages 11-12) played and won in the World Series, but lost the title due to alleged irregularities. That, we remember.

There were no bands, no buntings, no farewell balls to send off these boys, who beat other teams from the Asia-Pacific region to earn the right to play in the World Series in Maine.

Five days before they left for the World Series, which ends on Sunday, the team’s coach and manager Randy Dizer was still agonizing for funds to make ends meet during the trip.

Air fare and accommodations for eight days (the playing days and one day before and after the games) will be shouldered by the World Series.

But Dizer, who has been playing baseball for the last 38 years, doesn’t want his boys to arrive in Maine on the day before the games. "They will be suffering from jet lag on the first day of the games!"

Obviously frustrated by the lack of support from government and the difficulty of soliciting support from some private groups, Dizer says: "Since baseball isn’t so popular here the tendency is nobody really knows about us. If it were basketball, everybody would be cheering for the team."

Dizer claims his team did not get a single peso of support from government. He says a letter of solicitation given to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo somehow "got lost" in the maze that is Malacañang and a series of follow-ups were to no avail.

But Dizer smiles when he relates the reception his team got from the US Embassy in Manila when some boys applied for visas.

"When I told her of our funding problems, the consul told me, ‘I pity you. If you were in the States, the boys in your team will be treated like kings’."

* * *

The 14 boys play with ILLAM, whose members are mostly from well-to-do and expatriate families.

But to enhance the team’s capabilities, ILLAM has "developed" four scholars, one of whom, Joannard Pareja, is the team’s star pitcher.

Joannard, who trains at the Nemesio Yabut school campus in Makati during his free time, pitched a three-hitter when the Philippines beat Guam, 4-1, in the senior division, winner-take-all match of the Asia Pacific League.

The impressive win earned the country the right to represent the region in Maine this week. A few hours after you read this, our boys will be slugging it out on the field against their bigger, but not necessarily better, counterparts from 10 teams from all over the world.

"I told the boys our main aim is to play in the World Series. Now that we’re in, let’s play hard so that we will have a chance," said Dizer when I interviewed him in the stands of the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Manila. The boys had just finished their regular practice. The only outside support I saw, aside from the presence of their parents, was a row of Smart sports bags for their gear and clothes.

Despite the difficulties, playing in the World Series is a dream come true for the boys.

Most of them think that winning "is everything."

But one thing good about being in sports, says team mother Grace Dizer (wife of coach Randy and mom of player Nikko) is that the game teaches the boys "humility."

"When they lose, sometimes, the boys cry. But we teach them that that is the way life is. They learn that in playing baseball, they are also preparing themselves for the hard realities of life. Now, whenever the team loses, I cry. The boys don’t anymore. They’ve learned," says Grace.

Carlo Olivares of Xavier school, 15, has been playing baseball since he was 11. For love of the game, he went on a diet. To practise for the World Series, Carlo, who is chauffeur-driven to school, would take the MRT from Santolan to EDSA, then take the LRT to the Vito Cruz Station. From there he would walk to the Rizal Memorial.

He would be home by seven, study and do his homework and sleep early.

Grace Dizer says that another advantage of having one’s children in sports is that they carry the discipline to their school.

* * *

Win or lose, all the boys will be treated to a trip to Disneyland by their coach and private-sector benefactors.

"I think by winning the chance to represent Asia-Pacific, that is already a feat in itself," says Dizer. To save on costs, the boys will be staying with Filipino foster parents in California.

As I looked at the boys pack their baseball paraphernalia in the fading light of the sun at the Rizal Memorial, I felt a surge of pride. Some of the boys are going home in air-conditioned cars, others are going to take the jeep. Because of baseball, they are brothers. The lines of class, color (there are American and Japanese mestizos on the team) have blurred.

They will be giving their all for the Philippines, and for their region. I felt sorry I had not met the team earlier. And when they come back, win or lose, my heart will beat like a band for them.

You’re winners, boys!