Rock star treatment

Since Sept. 2, Steven Purugganan has been back to his life as an ordinary student in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The 11-year-old, unknown to his peers, came off a whirlwind one-week tour of the Philippines, his first visit here since he was born. The world sport stacking champion couldn’t believe the reception he received here.

“It was so cool,” Purugganan told The STAR. “We did all these media interviews, then the event at Bonifacio Global City. “It was awesome.”

“The boys received an even bigger reception here than we do in the US,” confessed Steven’s father Dan Purugganan, a finance officer for a multinational company in Massachusetts. “I don’t know if it’s because Steven’s a world champion or a Pinoy or both, but it’s unbelievable.”

The plan all started after Bonifacio Global City Development Corp. heard about Purugganan’s exploits, which had been carried by The STAR after a surprising exposure on YouTube. They decided that Steven would be a perfect fit for their regular “Passion Rush” event at Bonifacio High Street.

After much communicating back and forth with the Purugganans, and a 12-1/2 hour flight from San Francisco to Manila, the Purugganans arrived at 4 a.m. on Aug. 18, and were shocked when they were met by a platoon of photographers and TV crews at the airport.

The whole family from Steven and his brothers Brian and Andrew and parents Dan and Vicki, were interviewed about the trip. The brothers gladly obliged the requests to stack for the first time on Philippine soil.

“It was an overwhelming experience,” said Vicki, who hadn’t been home in 12 years. “We were so excited, particularly since our first agenda was a family reunion at my aunt’s place.”

The night, they met relatives and watched all the news reports about the Purugganan boys’ exploits. Every day there was something new. The Purugganans appeared on TV Patrol and 24 Oras their first night here.

After that, it was a series of morning show demos: ABS-CBN’s “Umagang Kay Ganda” and “Mornings@ANC”, ABS-CBN News Channel’s daily sports talk show “Hardball”, and radio interviews with the boys and Aris Alipon of World Sport Stacking Association Philippines. Manny Pacquiao’s TV show on GMA-7 “Pinoy Records” also did a piece on the boys, while ABS-CBN’s “Wonder Mom” interviewed the whole family. In between, they did print interviews and radio guestings.

In the US, Bob Fox, founder of the sport, was also compiling news about the Purugganan family. And to think the event hadn’t even taken place yet.

On Friday, Aug. 22, the Purugganans made the round of schools that had started sport stacking. At Miriam College, Steven dazzled the crowds by unofficially breaking all three of his world records.

The following Sunday, Bonifacio High Street was prepared for his first open public appearance. A tent and gallery were set up along High Street, and a huge billboard of Steven greeted visitors at the entrance.

By a strange quirk of scheduling, the British sport stacking champion and a friend of Steven’s was also in town, and joined the event.

The Purugganan family came in full force, about 30 of them, all dressed in gray t-shirts proclaiming “Proud to be Purugganan”. The noise started to pick up as the festive event started. Tables had been set up by WSSA Philippines for the public to join the fun. Dozens of kids were there, with some having bought their own stacking cups for the event.

Steven explained the various configurations in the sport, from the simple 3-3-3 formation to the cycle, where all three stacks are done in succession. He even gave tips to speed up your stacking.

The crowd went wild every time Steven would come close to matching his record time. The brothers even tie their world record in the tandem event.

“This was a really big boost to the sport,” Alipon said. “The awareness level has become quite high, and it will give us impetus for our first competition in November.”

The Asian championships will be held in Singapore in November, while the World Championships are in Denver every March.

After their rock star treatment in the Philippines, the Purugganans made a brief stop in Singapore. Team USA and Team Singapore met up, and tried the new Battlestacks version of the sport. Filipinos who had seen the game on TV here took pictures, and they stacked until nearly midnight at the Ben and Jerry’s restaurant there.

From that breathtaking and unforgettable first tour of the Philippines, Steven Purugganan and his family flew back to the US, grateful for a chance to help the sport take off in his country.