Written by: Kuya Glenn Costales, President
A bundle of energy with modest cheerfulness – that is how we would describe the kids from Nayon ng Kabataan in Mandaluyong City. “Nayon,” as we like to call it, is a state-supported home providing education and values formation assistance to orphaned and street-dwelling children. As you can imagine, the kids here are always down to play and meet new friends.
Kuya Colin is a basketball enthusiast who has the most contagious smile. He just turned 9 so he brought along his entire family and a few friends to spend a bouncy afternoon with 25 kids from Nayon. This was exactly how he wanted to celebrate his birthday and he would not have it any other way.
After dividing them into 5 groups, we gave the kids and volunteers a few minutes to get acquainted and comfortable with their team members. A very dynamic activity awaited our roster of participants so we made sure they were really a ‘team.’
We finally tipped off with the Pass-the-Ball game. While seated down, a basketball was passed within each team as music played in the background. When the music stopped, the person with the ball had to quickly stand up and do a dribbling exhibition to score points for their team. It was a great warm up and a fitting teaser to our main program – the basketball workshop.
Coach Dennis Dizon then took center court and primed everyone for our workshop. Coach Dennis is a member of the skills and conditioning coaching staff of the professional basketball team Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the PBA. To get things started, the teams lined up while Coach Dennis demonstrated some basketball fundamentals and gave out instructions on the actual drills. The skills workshop included the triple-threat position, basic defensive stance, dribbling and passing exercises and even one-on-one drills. Aside from being just a pastime, basketball helps kids develop discipline and mental focus, improves their physique, teaches them strategy and teamwork and basically steers them to make new friends. It was a great activity to bring everyone together.
The workshop itself was quite the workout and our dedicated teams sat back down for a much-deserved lunch. The most exciting part was when we sang Kuya Colin a happy birthday just after their meal. He also took the time to thank the 25 kids spirited kids who made his birthday a truly lively one.
To show his appreciation, Kuya Colin and his family gave each kid a special basketball which is the same as the one he uses at his home. This will allow the kids to practice on their own and work on their game.
Our volunteers and kids were indeed a team last Saturday. Thank U! to Kuya Colin and his awesome family and friends for their generous time with the kids. Happy birthday again, Colin. Your selflessness is an inspiration and that surely is a slam dunk!
