Celebrating love for sports on Valentine’s Day

(from left to right) Edward Hayco, Edito Villamor, Jessica Honoridez, and Roland Remolino. | Facebook photos

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Love comes in different forms, and one of the best ways to express love is by celebrating February 14’s Valentine’s Day.

Beyond that, there are certain people whose selflessness gives a whole new meaning to love.

These people do not just display their love on Valentine’s Day but the entire year for the past decades through their advocacy in sports. 

They people are instruments of positivity that not just inspire but mold countless successful athletes on and off the court. 

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, CDN Digital is featuring four of Cebu’s most inspiring sports advocates known for their dedication, passion, and commitment. 

They are Edward Hayco, Roland Remolino, Edito Villamor, and Jessica Honoridez, whose decades of love for sports have transformed many lives.

MARRIED TO COMMITMENT 

Hayco is widely known not just in Cebu but in the entire country for two things — dancesport and grassroots program. 

For 25 years, Hayco earned the moniker “Father of Dancesport” in Cebu for putting the island on the map of the international dancesport scene through Dancesport Team Cebu City (DTCC).

From a simple hobby in 1991 as a Rotary Club president, Hayco fell in love with dancesport, which eventually paved the way for the formation of DTCC, which advocates teaching dancesport to underprivileged youngsters. 

“Our first competition was in 1998, I started competing, and dancesport became an extravagant sport.  We felt the need to share it so that the feeling of extravaganza would be transformed into a social effort. It means we share what we know to the less privileged that could never afford, which was ballroom or dancesport,” said Hayco, who is currently one of the Commissioners of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

“That’s how our advocacy and outreach program started in 1998. If you call it love, it was more of a community program, sharing something that the community needs. Not every kid can play other sports; every sport is designed for a certain personality of a child. So does ballroom dancing,” he added.

Hayco explained that teaching kids free dancesport lessons up to this day is like a marriage. 

“What’s love all about? It’s the commitment; that’s the bottom line of any relationship, of the thing they call love. The starting point is romance, but what keeps a couple together is the commitment, which is pretty much the same as what we’re doing in continuing this advocacy in dancesport,” he said. 

“We became committed to this cause, a meaningful purpose in life, similar to the ‘Ikigai’ in Japanese, which is a meaningful purpose.”

He added that his advocacy to promote dancesport is also a social crusade and a transformational tool to provide experiential education to the less privileged youngsters who aspire to become elite dancesport athletes. 

In the last 25 years Hayco and DTCC had proudly trained over 40,000 kids, the majority of whom come from public schools and impoverished areas.

Not only that, under his leadership, Hayco initiated the creation of the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) that caters to thousands of Cebuano kids through an intensive grassroots program that also inspired PSC to create its own grassroots model. 

LOVE FOR EXCITEMENT AND SUCCESS 

Before he became a triathlon national coach, Roland Remolino was known for producing top-notch swimmers whom he trained in an unconventional swimming pool in Talisay City.

His training and tough love paved the way for many successful swimmers in Talisay City until he slowly transitioned to triathlon.

In triathlon, Remolino saw massive success, especially from his son Andrew Kim Remolino, who doesn’t miss a podium in his Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) stints. 

Remolino also discovered and trained Raven Faith Alcoseba, who won a bronze medal in her first SEA Games stint, and Matthew Justine Hermosa, who won a gold medal in last year’s SEA Games. 

For Remolino, it’s the excitement of seeing his athletes succeed in their competitions that made him fall in love with coaching. 

For 24 years, he dedicated himself to tirelessly waking up at dawn to train his athletes with the hopes of molding them into successful individuals, not just in sports but in life.

“Makadaog atong athlete mura pud ug kita sad ang nakadaog. Mag struggle atong athlete, mag struggle sad ta ug apil, mao nang na inlove ko aning pag coach, at the same time, akong love akong gi share sa pag tudlo sa mga bata,” said Remolino. 

“Diri na siguro ko mo retire, diri man gyud ko mag enjoy. Excited kaayo sa pamati kanang paingon na ta sa lumba ug ang pagka active nato kada adlaw mao sad nakadasig nako.” 

CONTINUING THE MISSION 

On the other hand, Villamor is one of the respected names in the local boxing scene. 

Villamor spent more than half of his life in boxing. He’s been in the sport for 35 years. 

From being a world title contender to becoming a trainer and matchmaker, Villamor’s passion for boxing is unparalleled.

Most importantly, his passion led him to open up a gym that teaches kids for free. 

His mentor and former manager, Antonio L. Aldeguer, the founder of the famed ALA Boxing Gym, was the one who taught him to love the sport and the importance of giving back to the community. 

“Akong gisunod gyud ang kadto pareho kang sir ALA (Aldeguer). Ganahan gyud sad to siya mo tudlo ug mga bata. Mao nang akong gisunod ang grassroots program ni sir ALA, labi na karon nga nangawala na akong mga professional boxers sauna,” said Villamor.  

“Dugay nako nag plano mag put-up ug gym, mao to pag sirado sa ALA Boxing Gym ako gyud gipaninguha nga maka abli ko ug ako sa tabang ni sir ALA. Na timing lang gyud sa pagpangidaron nako karon ug 50, nakatudlo ug naka share ko sa akong passion.”

Villamor has trained over a hundred youngsters at the Villamor Boxing Gym (VBG) in Pagsabungan, Mandaue City, with the hopes of discovering talented boxers. 

He is now reaping what he sowed by putting up a gym that teaches free boxing. He now trains and manages two promising Cebuano professionals in Reymart Tagacanao and Christian Balunan. Both are unbeaten prospects who have huge potential to become champions. 

Besides that, Villamor has several amateur boxers who is he currently training for regional and national meets. 

“Ang akong love ug passion sa boxing, ako lang gyud gusto ma-share sa mga bata pud. Lisud para nako kung dili ko maka share sa akong nahibaw-an, para nako loving is also about sharing,” added Villamor. 

SELFLESS VOLUNTEERISM 

Since 1997, Honoridez has dedicated herself for ‘selfless volunteerism’ as a table tennis coach.

Honoridez spent most of her coaching career with the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters, which produced several national team players throughout the years. 

She shared that in her early years in coaching, she didn’t earn a single centavo. 

But she persevered, thanks to her family, who helped her with her daily allowances since she volunteered as a coach with UC for three years without pay. 

Honoridez revealed that she found love and beauty amidst the struggles she endured in her early years in coaching. 

“Para nako balewala ra basta makatudlo ko. Nagpasalamat sad ko sa akong mama ug mga igsuon, they kept supporting me. Nag support sila nako financially,” said Honoridez. 

“Tungod sa akong experience, naka ingon ko naa man diay forever sa sports. Ana sila walay forever, pero sa sports naay forever. I have this kind of relationship in sports nga makaingon ko lahi gyud. It’s because in sports, you realize that you’re giving a lot of opportunities to many people.”

Because of her dedication to coaching, Honoridez was eventually promoted as the UC athletic director. 

Besides coaching, Honoridez also organizes one of the country’s premier and longest-running table tennis tournaments, the “Erne Jawad Cup,” dedicated to her late brother and national athlete Erne Jawad. 

“I can be somebody or instrument for these students, makahimo sila ug name out of my commitment to train them. Wala koy hesitation. Mahulog ra ko ug volunteer, once volunteer ka by heart, mas makita nimo ma feel mas connected ka sa mga bata, ni trabaho gud ka not because of money,” added Honoridez.

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