What I Learned as a Buko Boy
by Oliver Carlos
When I was a child, I was very introverted. I was very shy. I had very few friends. I was very quiet in class, never made any ruffles, just did my own thing in my little nook. I didn’t enjoy group works, and never longed for the company of other kids. I’m contented being alone, did school stuff alone, and figured things out alone. I never caused headaches at home or in school. I’m pretty much independent living inside my own bubble.
Things changed when I was in high school. I fell in love with basketball. Since that sport is a team game, I started to learn how to socialize. I met other boys who wanted to play the same sport. But still I was the different one among them because they just played for fun, while me, I played for a dream, I wanted to be a PBA player. I ate and breathed basketball. I was a diligent student of the game. I trained hard every day, hoping that every workout is a building block to the fulfilment of my goal.
When varsity tryout came, I applied. Sadly, I didn’t make it. At the batch level, I was also a failure. I also didn’t make any of the intrams teams of our batch. Mr. Calabig, our PE teacher told me (years later) that our batch was the most talented basketball batch he has ever handled. There were so many basketball superstars and my skill level was not good enough for me to earn a slot in the batch team. He said I was just in the wrong batch; if I were in another batch, things would be different for me.
But instead of sulking in my misery, I decided to just create my own team. I gathered together my basketball buddies who didn’t make the varsity and the intramurals team. I asked them if they wanted to continue playing basketball and train hard to improve ourselves. I was able to put together at least 10 guys, and we called ourselves “The Buko Boys.”
I was the founder and the leader of the team. I played point guard and was the playing coach ala-Jaworski. I loved distributing the ball and making my teammates look better. I enjoyed organizing a rag-tag team and piling up assists as we played every day at various venues- at my backyard in Umali Subdivision, at Vlad Mariano’s place in Maahas, at the YMCA court near Rommel Garcia’s house, at the CSI court, and at the Amtech court near the hanging bridge going to our school.
This Buko Boys leadership experience became the foundation for my coaching career. Later on, I organized our church basketball teams and tournaments, and I also became a high school varsity coach. In my current office, I started handling administrative posts beginning 2011. I never realized that I can be a leader, not until I became a Buko Boy.
Looking back at the Buko Boys chapter of my life, I can compare myself to Gideon in the Old Testament. He was the weakest family member of the weakest clan in Israel. He had a very low self-esteem, but God chose him to be the leader of his nation. God convinced him to stand up and lead a small rag-tag army of 300 Israelites to battle against thousands of well-equipped and well-trained Midianites. They won the battle because God was with them. We read in Judges 6:12,14 (NIV):
“He said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’… Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand…I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites.’”
Gideon sees himself as a weakling, but God sees him as a mighty warrior. Sometimes we just need to discover our hidden talents and abilities. In my case, I didn’t know I had some leadership skills until I became a Buko Boy. From a shy introverted kid, God slowly led me out of my shell to realize my full potential. I didn’t get discovered by a coach in all the tryouts I attended, but I thank God he made me discover myself.
How about you? Try to spend time talking to God and let him show you an undiscovered part of your being that he could use for his glory. Remember that God knows you so well and he believes in your abilities, because he’s the one who created you.
