Coaching Gold(wyn Monteverde)

Coaching Gold(wyn Monteverde)

by rick olivares

Goldwyn Monteverde bristled at the suggestion that he is like an architect. A builder of championship basketball teams.

“I am just a coach,” he says.

Sure he is. But a bemedalled one at that. He’s guided the Chiang Kai Shek Blue Dragons to a multitude of secondary school titles. He should have won one with the Adamson Baby Falcons last UAAP season too. “It is a shame because we were building something long term there,” he sighs. “Only to get knocked out by a technicality.”

What happened in Adamson also played a part in his not getting the job of Batang Gilas coach in the last Seaba U-16 tourney held in Manila this past month. He was a shoo-in. He had the cred and the trophies to prove it.

“Move on na lang,” he says. But he would definitely like another shot at it.

Monteverde admits that what happened played a large part in his decision to leave Adamson. “Yes,” he admits. “It played a huge part. It was disappointing. I do not like unfinished business. But it was time to go.”

Seeing the team that he put together scattered to the four winds of the UAAP landscape pains him. “Ako nagtanim, iba ang aani.”

He isn’t only an architect but he’s also like a farmer; one who plants championship seeds.

“I am just a coach,” he parries.

It’s easy to say that success is also due to a program. A program with money to fund the machine. If it were that easy then why doesn’t everyone do it? Why doesn’t everyone win?

He bristles at the suggestion that he is a top basketball mind.

Before he can speak, I cut him off, “Yes, you’re just a basketball coach.”

Monteverde smiles. You understand, he seems to say without any words.

When I asked if he found it ironic that he is now with National University, the team that filed a complaint about a supposedly ineligible player – who wasn’t really – he smiled. “That’s basketball. It takes you to places where you least expect to go. The important thing is to look forward and not dwell on the past.”

After his NU Bullpups – in his second game with NU – lost to the Ateneo Blue Eaglets in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup – he knows that his team is still young. Besides, Rhayyan Amsali wasn’t available.

“The goal is the UAAP,” he points out.

Looking forward. Right, coach?

He isn’t a seer.

“I’m just a coach.”