CEBU, Philippines - Lawyer Kenneth Kernn Sesante will be carrying out another task, this time in a sporting realm he is most familiar with - the hardcourt.
This after the former collegiate standout signed a one-year pact as head coach of the University of Cebu basketball team in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI).
Sesante, former skipper of the UC Webmasters during his varsity days, look at this career move as payback time to the institution that help him mold both as an athlete and a career-oriented individual.
Modesty aside, the 32-year-old Sesante said he didn’t saw this coming because since he was a kid, coaching was never entrenched in his mind. All that he had been yearning for is only to play in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
“I was really surprised. I never dreamed of coaching. All I ever wanted before was to play in the PBA, but God has other plans for me,” said Sesante, who served as UC team captain for four consecutive years from 2002 to 2005.
In those years, he exemplified the essence of an athlete par excellence. Aside from being a star player largely due to his smart playmaking ability, Sesante was also academically sound. A graduate of Bachelor of Science in Customs Administration, he was a second placer during the Customs Broker licensure exam in 2006.
Sesante, a Cum Laude graduate with the degree of Bachelors of Laws at the UC College of Law, is ecstatic yet a bit nervous about his new responsibility.
“My contract with UC is for one year. Our immediate plan is make the team focus on defense and our ultimate goal, of course, is to win the CESAFI basketball trophy,” said Sesante, who is also a practicing lawyer.
Sesante learned the rudiments of shooting hoops from his illustrious father, the late Atty./Col. Napoleon Medida Sesante and his older brother Kristian Ione Sesante, a former varsity of the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) Greywolves.
“After passing the bar exams in 2012, Atty. Estenzo asked me to help the team, which was in the rebuilding phase after Junemar Fajardo graduate. However, I politely declined the offer since I was still devoting my time learning the ropes of lawyering at that time," said Sesante, referring to Atty. Baldomero 'Merong' C. Estenzo, the UC Webmasters team manager.
But as fate would have it, Sesante realized how much he missed the sport that is closest to his heart when he got a chance to watch one of UC's games in the 2015 CESAFI season last September.
“Hence, I asked Atty. Estenzo if I could still join in the team as one of its stafff and I'm glad that he asked me to join their practice," said Sesante.
That was the beginning of his journey at the helm of UC basketball.
During the Asia Pacific University Games, Sesante served as acting head coach of the Webmasters, who made a decent finish with a runner-up trophy among four competing squads that include Japan and Malaysia.
As he ponders on what lies ahead, Sesante gamely admitted that he has a lot of work to do for the Webmasters. The good thing is that he is willing to give it a try and rise to the challenge.
“Just like the other teams, we aim for the CESAFI crown," said Sesante. "But we still have a lot of work to do considering that most of our players are rookies and sophomores.” (FREEMAN)