Coach Ruben Lanot II (center) receives the Gawad Pilipinoy
2018 trophy from (L-R)
Mang Inasal Head Jojo Subido and Marketing Head Aileen
Natividad.
Basketball is the most-loved sport in the Philippines. For
Filipinos, the ball game is more than just a pastime – it is training ground
for discipline and sportsmanship, as well as for building friendships and
camaraderie.
Making use of basketball as a means to inspire and teach
life lessons to underprivileged youth, 35-year-old Ruben Lanot II, a tireless
and dedicated basketball coach, was recently honored as the Mang Inasal’s 2018
Gawad Pilipinoy awardee.
The leading Pinoy chicken inasal brand’s very own
recognition program for the country’s modern-day heroes, Gawad Pilipinoy cites
outstanding individuals who represent galing ng Pinoy by fulfilling a passion
or vocation that uplifts the lives of the less fortunate.
“Mang Inasal Philippines wishes to promote positive
Filipino values by recognizing individuals who exemplify them, like Coach
Ruben, who dedicated his life to teaching the youth the importance of
sportsmanship and realizing their dreams through basketball. He fulfills his
passion for the game while inspiring kids to love the sport and make it as an
instrument to improve their lives,” said Mang Inasal Head Jojo P. Subido.
Utilizing basketball as a means to inspire and teach life
lessons to underprivileged youth, Coach Ruben Lanot II was recently honored as
the Mang Inasal’s 2018 Gawad Pilipinoy awardee.
Coach Ruben started his love affair with the game at a very
young age of six. He grew a deep liking for the sport while watching Philippine
Basketball Association (PBA) games. He became a varsity player in his senior
year at the University of Sto. Tomas, and after graduation, eventually found
coaching basketball as his calling.
His decision to quit his day job as an office employee in
favor of coaching was further strengthened when he was commissioned to join the
Junior NBA program as coach, where he was able to meet and coach talented young
players from different provinces. It was there that he thought that these raw
talents, when given the right training, equipment, and the opportunity to play,
would become even better players.
Founder of Hoops Dreams, Coach Ruben holds basketball
training sessions at the Taguig Tenement, where the young players are not only
coached on the game, but also on life lessons that will help them achieve their
dreams.
“I was able to relate to those aspiring young players since
I myself didn’t come from an affluent family. When I was just starting to play,
I didn’t have access to scientific basketball. That’s why I want these kids to
experience what I didn’t get to enjoy before. Wala ako noong coach na masasabi
kong naghulma sa akin nung bata ako about basketball (I didn’t have a coach
whom I can say molded me as a young kid trying to play basketball),” Coach
Ruben said.
These experiences inspired him to start his “Hoop Dreams”
advocacy program, which aims to help those youth who aspire of becoming
basketball players by giving them the skills, the drills, the right values, and
even the jerseys and the shoes they need for the game. For the program, Coach
Ruben partners with different orphanages, associations and organizations, which
are looking for ways to give indigent youth better opportunities.
Coach Ruben holds basketball training sessions at the
Taguig Tenement, where the young players are coached on the game, but also on
life lessons that will help them achieve their dreams. As far as Coach Ruben is
concerned, he exerts the same amount of sacrifice and effort to train the kids
from the tenement as well as those children attending the private school where
Ruben also coaches.
“Through basketball, I am able to give the youth,
especially the underprivileged ones, a new reason to dream and hope that they
can be good at something. That’s the best thing about pursuing my passion in
basketball – I am able to fulfill the purpose behind that passion – that is, to
be able to help others. Kaya’t hanggang may batang gustong matuto, nandito lang
si Coach Ruben para sa kanila (As long as there are kids who want to learn,
Coach Ruben is just here for them),” he said.
With Coach Ruben’s selfless use of his skills and passion
to help the Pinoy youth through basketball, he is definitely a deserving
recipient of the 2018 Gawad Pilipinoy award. Get to know more about Coach Ruben
from the 2018 Gawad Pilipinoy Awards video at Mang Inasal Philippines’s
official Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MangInasalPhilippines/).
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