Surprising Pampanga

ANGELES, Pampanga – This teeming part of Central Luzon has always been known to be a hotbed of basketball, having produced such known figures as Gil Cortez, Aric del Rosario, Ato Agustin and Yeng Guiao. The Pampanga Dragons were the first champions of the Metropolitan Basketball Association, and PBA games regularly draw huge crowds.

But there is much more to Pampanga than meets the eye. There is such a wide range of successful sports activities here that it really widens one’s eyes. This is no book to be judged by its prosperous, hospitable cover.

Angeles Country Club is the home of the most successful sport in the country in recent years. And it isn’t basketball, boxing or billiards.

It’s lawn bowls.

Lawn bowls, one of many European sports of the same ilk, was transplanted here by the owner of the patent for the electric toothbrush, the late Greg McDougal. In the last few years, they have won 100 gold medals in international competition. In 2007, they won 12 golds at the Asian Championships. Last year, they increased that haul to 17 gold medals. This year, they claim to have received no support from the Philippine Sports Commission.

“It is quite sad that a sport this successful gets little or no support at all,” rues new head coach Bill Knight. “We have discovered tremendous talent here. With as little training as a month, local players have been shown great growth and can already compete. It’s tragic that Laos has no venues for lawn bowls in the Southeast Asian Games.”

In the ASEAN region, it is only really Malaysia that can beat the Philippines, simply because they are sponsored by their national government, and funding is consistent. The lawn bowls team, using the same field as our increasingly successful petanque team, has proven its worth with an incomparable record in the last five years.

Also, an independent triathlon team, TriClark, has been showing up in many international competitions and turning some heads. Their most recent adventure was the World Triathlon Championships in Clearwater, Florida, a daunting challenge which they used to break their own personal records. Their next test will be the Ironman Langkawi in Malaysia in February.

The modern triathlon was supposedly created by two US marines in Hawaii, and is meant to test each of the major muscle groups in the human body. TriClark, with the support of sponsors like Yellow Cab, has been able to travel enough to gain invaluable experience for coming competitions.

Also, Angeles University Foundation caught a lot of attention when it joined the NCAA this year as a guest team. Though their men’s basketball team, the Great Danes, had a rough time because of their lack of size, their pep squad definitely made an impact. Their routines and looks made them something to look forward to in the games themselves, and one of them, Jojo Cabales, even received an award at the NCAA cheerleading competition.

“It’s really a great honor for us to be able to perform in the NCAA,” says head coach Chester Carlos, who is originally from Cavite. “It was a new experience for us and a lot of fun, and we expect to keep on getting better. I’m very happy with the team.”

After their sixth-place finish in the competition, you’d think they’d be satisfied as newcomers. They weren’t. On Dec. 2, to open their Sulagpo 2009 (meaning “to take off”) or University Week, they invited NCAA cheering champion University of Perpetual Help Perp Squad and UAAP champion and Philippine representative to the Asian cheering championship Far Eastern University Pep Squad to an exhibition in front of the entire AUF population.

The event also marked the beginning of the Mr. and Miss University, a competition among the different colleges. The coronation night Saturday was impressively done, with lavish costumes updating classic Filipino costumes and formal wear, and outstanding vocal and dance performances from the students. Another surprise from the heart of Pampanga.