DOWN BUT NOT OUT
Manila -- Barely a month before the University Athletic Association of the Philippines opened on December 1, 2013, there was a lot of buzz surrounding one Philippine Superliga player: the open spiker for PLDT MyDSL Speed Boosters.
For the uninitiated, Maruja “Maru” Banaticla is a former open hitter of the University of Santo Tomas Golden Tigresses. Maru, who played for the España-based school since her high school years, is probably one of most easily recognizable Tigresses.
Maru was part of what fans now call as the “Grand Slam Team of UST,” which holds the distinction of sweeping the four top competitions in Philippine amateur volleyball— Shakey’s V-League Season 6 (both first and second conferences), the 2009 Philippine University Games, and UAAP Season 72 Women’s Volleyball—in the 2009-2010 season.
But during UST Tigresses’s recent Dec. 4, 2013 match against the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, where the former emerged victors, there was no sign of Maruja Banaticla.
Fans took Maru’s absence as a long-overdue confirmation: that the UST star is a Tigress no more.
So what really happened to Maruja Banaticla? What are the events that led to her unexpected exit?
Talk was rife that Maru’s lackluster performance in UAAP Season 75 caused her to lose a spot in the team’s roster for UAAP Season 76.
That particular season 75, which ran from December 2012 to March 2013, was not a productive one for Maru. She was barely fielded in by UST head coach Ojie Mamon. She didn’t get to enjoy what a player would describe as “good playing minutes.” Rumor also has it that around that time Maru also dealt with a number of personal problems.
After a dismal UAAP Season 75, Maru re-emerged in the spotlight in the Shakey’s V-league open conference, which happened some two months after UAAP Season 75 ended, or from May 2013 to June 2013. In this commercial volleyball tournament, Maru did a better showing as an open-hitter for Team Smart-Maynilad.
At the time, many volleyball fanatics thought that Maru had finally overcome her “slump” and that she was back on track.
Turned out, they were right. Back on track she was.
In the September 2013-season of the UAAP Beach Volleyball tournament, the veteran player Maru, together with Pamela Lastimosa, brought UST to the beach volleyball finals. Unfortunately, the Tigresses lost the championship to Adamson University’s Sheila Pineda and Amanda Villanueva.
Maru would not be seen again after that beach volleyball championship.
In October 2013, UST flew to Bacolod City without Maru Banaticla to participate in the Philippine University Games, or more commonly known as the Unigames. Sources say that Maru was left out of the indoor volleyball team because she missed several practices and training sessions with the team.
At the end of that annual sports meet, UST defeated Far Eastern University and walked away with the crown. Middle hitter Jessey De Leon was even proclaimed the Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
It was around that time—or that period from October to November 2013—that speculations ran wild again that Maru was not coming back to the team.
Solarsports.ph catches up with the former Thomasian volleyball player one sunny afternoon at the Ynares Sports Arena to find out the story behind her exit. After all, it was not clear to many, especially to die-hard fans of collegiate volleyball, if her exit from the UST Tigresses was a graceful one or not.
Maru, who at the time of the interview looks radiant as ever, assures us that she was able to say her goodbyes to the UST team and administration properly. She doesn’t want to go into details about this meeting, but we can hazard a guess that it took place sometime after the Unigames.
Maru tells us that she asked her father, Med Banaticla to accompany her to UST’s Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) one night to talk to her coaches and mentors to tell them what her family had been urging her to do for the longest time: “It’s time na daw isipin naman natin ang future ko.’ Kasi hindi ka naman forever maglalaro for UST, di ba?”
Maru gives us a brief backstory how this meeting with the people from UST IPEA went: “Ni-request ko siya na lumuwas ng Laguna, sabi ko kausapin natin si coach, kasi maayos pumunta dito, gusto ko maayos din tayo lalabas. Tutal, wala naman tayong sama ng loob sa UST.
“Ano nga e, nakatapos ako ng highschool, ng college dahil sa UST. Tapos ngayon nag-ma-Master’s naman ako di ba? (Maru, who has a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management, is presently taking up her MBA in UST).
“No’ng kinausap naman namin naging okey lahat. Parang fully, nakahinga na ako. Sabi ko, free na ako at last, na pumayag na rin sila. Sinabi nila salamat dahil malaking tulong din daw ako sa UST volleyball since nine years na rin ako naglalaro for UST.”
It was after this private meeting Maru learned that she was no longer part of the UST lineup. With a pained look on her face, Maru admits to us that while she knew the repercussions of her decision, she didn’t quite expect for the news to come so soon.
“No’ng pagkakausap namin, tiningnan ko ’yong lineup...” she pauses mid-sentence, then shakes her head.
Maru suddenly becomes quiet.
“Wala na?,” we ask.
Without saying a word, Maru just nods her head.
Maru reveals to Solarsports.ph that it wasn’t just her who got affected by this turn of events. Her parents, whom she seldom sees because she stays in the athlete's dormitory near UST, was also deeply concerned with their balibolista daughter's well-being––from the time Maru started entertaining thoughts of leaving the UST team up to the moment she finally made the big decision.
“Even sila naiiyak din, e,” Maru says of her family. “Lahat sila apektado e. Puyat sila kasi halos hanggang alas-dose magka-text kami, minsan ten-thirty [ng gabi] magkausap pa kami sa phone.”
A certain someone, whom Maru doesn’t identify, from the UST administration did advise Maru to speak with Coach Ojie Mamon. It was Maru’s father Med Banaticla who decided that a meeting with the UST head coach was no longer necessary.
“Sabi ng dad ko ‘Tama na. Tapos na ’yong sa amin, okey na kami na nakapag-alam kami sa inyo.’”
Maru believes that there is no point in crying over spilled milk now. She clarifies that she has already moved on from this episode. In fact, Maru says that she can now face her former coaches without feeling any resentment or pain or guilt, whatsoever.
“Gano’n pa rin naman, normal pa rin,” she shares. “Pagnakakasalubong ko si Coach Vilet [Ponce de Leon, who also coaches Team Petron], ‘Hi Coach!’ Okey na talaga ako.
But does Maru think her former coaches from UST were aware of what she had gone through?
“Hindi, feeling ko hindi,” answers Maru. “Sobrang down ako no’n that day. Pero that day din, ni-lift ako ni Coach Roger [Gorayeb, coach of Team PLDT]. Bakit pa ako magpapaka-emo-emo, e meron naman akong pupuntahan di ba?”
That new “home” that Maru is referring to here is Team PLDT MyDSL, where she plays as open hitter, the same position that she left in the UST squad.
Maru adds that she is now surrounded by people who are “super cool and very supportive.” People that she can call “family.”
Maru shares, “Sobrang naging happy ako sa teammates, happy ako sa coach ko, lahat. Okey ako sa PLDT admin. Super cool and very supportive. Wala na akong hahanapin pa.
“Tapos sila [PLDT admin] na mismo, ‘O Maru magpasa ka na ng resume mo.’ So parang sila na mismo nagpu-push sa’yo. Parang wala ka nang dapat ikalungkot pa.
“Actually mas okey nga dito [PLDT] kasi para sa future ko pwede na ako magwork, at the same time makakapaglaro pa rin ako. Kumikita ako, gano’n.”
At this point of the interview, we ask Maru the all-important question: Would she watch UST’s games in the UAAP?
With a laugh, the volleyball star replies, “Marami na nagtanong niyan.”
In a lighter mood this time, Maru goes on, “’Yon din ang hindi ko alam. Sabi ko, ‘Hindi ko alam kung manonood ako ng first game.’ Siguro kapag may talo na. Siguro pag may nagrequest na ‘Maru nood ka naman ng ganyan, please please.’ Siguro kapag natalo na sila ng isang beses pwede na akong manood.”
Always a fighter, Maru wants to focus all her energies and attention in the here and the now.
“Tsaka when I’m playing, super comfortable ako. Kahit nagkakamali ako, ‘Sige Coach, bawi ako.’ Unlike before na magkamali lang ako, labas agad. Iba e, sobrang iba e. Mga kasama ko mga beterano talaga. Tsaka kahit magkamali ka, tuturuan ka pa nila.”
Part of that “here and now” is a more confident Maruja Banaticla.
“’Yong confidence level ko, tumaas na ulit siya, kasi no’ng season na ’yon [UAAP Season 75] super baba ng confidence level ko, as in. Dito [Philippine Superliga], super excited talaga ako, kasi eto na talaga ang real world.”
Whatever happens to her career, may it be in volleyball or in the corporate world, Maru assures us that her heart will remain with UST.
“’Yong loyalty ko sa UST hinding hindi mawawala at magbabago.”
Maru Banaticla’s sudden yet graceful exit from the UST squad may be a bitter pill to swallow, especially for UST fans out there. But at this point, the only thing that matters now is how Maru, amid all the rumors and issues, carries herself.
This is the mark of a true champion: magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat.
By: The Volleyboy (www.thevolleyboy.blogspot.com)
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