The Green Archers is not all about good looks, when they enter the court, its always about getting the ball and winning the game. But of course, the path in order to get to where they are now was not an easy one and shooting guard, Jed Manguera is not an exception to this.
Like many great stories, Manguera also came from humble beginnings. Having played basketball ever since he was in high school, he took on the position of scorer and was not really committed to playing defense, which was his position now in the team. Then during the 72nd season of the UAAP, he was able to make it to the cut and joined the team as a rookie. To date, Manguera has been a loyal player to the Archers and serves as the team’s defender.
During the interview, Manguera also shared his experience with that one instance wherein he was demoted to team B. The reason for this was that there was a coaching change that time and to his disappointed, he was demoted to team B. He commented that, “I was frustrated at first but I took it as a challenge na lang so eventually I got better.” Despite this experience, he still recognized it as a learning experience. He describ
ed a match against NU’s team B as one of the best experiences being in that team. He fought along with Norbert Torres, and although they lost, making it to the championships was still enough for him. After a year, however, he decided to stop playing basketball first and just focused on his studies. After yet another coaching change, he decided to return and recognized this opportunity as a new start.
He then improved on his skills for defending after getting used to the position of point guard. With the help of the coaches, he was able to adjust to his new position. He even commented that being in defense was difficult by saying that, “Hustle lang talaga. Yun nga, there is no skill on playing defense, it is more of hustle and kailangan masipag ka.”
Indeed his path in order to get to where he is now was not an easy one and it took a long time to get himself on top. But as Jed has said, with enough Faith in God and in your abilities, you would definitely succeed.
THE 40 GREEN ICONS 