PH Volcanoes: Grit, determination, resilience

MANILA, Philippines — What did the Filipino businessman, the finance consultant, the chiropractor, the fitness trainer, the university student and the lawyer all have in common? Sounds like another white-collar crime case for the NBI but as a matter of fact they’re all simply junkies: the adrenaline type junkie.

These men love inflicting pain on others. They love inflicting pain on themselves. They will stop at nothing to get what they want. But they pose no threat to society. In fact they’re all members of the Philippine Volcanoes. They are all high on rugby!

No! Not that type of rugby! They are high on the sport of rugby! We’re talking about physically intimidating machines pushing their bodies and their minds to extreme limits. They all end up in the same place proudly representing our nation yet each one travelling a unique and inspirational path to get there.

No rugby pros 2 years ago

Your average rugby player is six feet tall and weighs 220 pounds. Most of them will bench press over 300 pounds and run 40m in just over 5 seconds off a standing start. With physical attributes like these you would think they all graduated straight from high school to the local gym. No further study, no professional working career. Just rugby all day and a mountain of food to demolish.

But, in fact, it was only two years ago that the Volcanoes had no full time professional rugby players. Back then, for the privilege of playing for their country, they paid their own travel expenses, surrendered annual leave for rugby tours and further ate into valuable family time.

With the team’s meteoric rise through the Asian ranks, talent scouts circled and in 2011 captain Michael Letts and Gareth Holgate were the first to sign professional contracts in Japan. Another six followed in 2012: brothers Matt and Oliver Saunders, Justin Coveney, James Price, Patrice Olivier and Jake Letts. However, this accounts for only 20% of the entire squad. The rest are heroically juggling rugby and work careers with family and social life in order to pursue their Volcanoes dream!

After-work training sessions for finance consultant Letts

Team captain Michael Letts turned professional at 28, quite unusual in the modern day game. Having now just turned 30, Letts is cherishing his newfound status and was in scintillating form leading the Volcanoes to victory in last year’s Asian 5 Nations Championships. His time as a professional certainly propelled his game to a new level. Letts is a mortgage and finance consultant and worked full time for a Sydney firm before signing in Japan.

Typically Letts would get up at 6am, light snack and weights session at the gym. After a quick breakfast, a 9-hour day at the office would follow with intermittent snacking maximizing calorie consumption. Evenings were spent, wait for it… training! Mondays and Wednesdays, individual sprints and cardio sessions. Tuesdays and Thursdays, team sessions. Fridays rest. Saturday, game day. Sunday, recovery with stretching, pool session and ice baths. And that is the life of every semi-professional footballer.

For Letts, a good evening meal and a 10:30pm lights out policy was crucial for the body to recover and to perform optimally the following day. Social life was condemned to Saturday nights with friends, family and teammates and the occasional weeknight outing if the body wasn’t complaining.

Same routine for Masters student brother

At 24, Jake Letts followed older brother Michael to the professional ranks. Jake participated in the same routine. The difference being he was studying whilst working part-time for a book distributing company in order to fund his rugby dreams. Full time Masters student, part time worker, national athlete, public engagements, active social life; please don’t tell me you have no time to pursue other interests!

The Letts’ brothers both regret not being able to travel more in a non-rugby way. That will surely come. For now squeezing in some surfing, fishing and golf during down time will suffice. Jake also loves to read at night but only manages half a page before a complete system shut down takes place.

Coveney’s ‘Rocky’-like week

So what’s the difference between a semi-professional and fully professional rugby player? Justin Coveney, 27, previously a lawyer for a Sydney firm, signed with Ricoh last year, one of the biggest professional clubs in Japan. Coveney says the difference lies in the intensity of training rather than the amount of hours training.

Without a full-time job to hold down, professional athletes can focus on nutrition, recovery and controlled rest periods in order to train more intensely says Coveney. There is also a greater emphasis on video analysis and mental training.

Coveney’s week reads like a Rocky movie. Mondays, skills training. Tuesdays and Thursdays, heavy contact work and speed conditioning. Friday, team run. Saturday, game and Sunday, recovery. This is on top of serious weights and nutrition program.

No balance for this kind of life

Austin Dacanay, 36, a.k.a. ‘Lolo’ is a full time chiropractic physician running his own practice in Miami. Joe Matthews, 29, is a fitness instructor in Canberra also running his own practice. When it comes to dedication these guys take it one step further as they are not only elite athletes with full time jobs but they are full time super-dads as well.

Both work 40 hours weeks on top of 15 hours physical training. Dacanay says there can be no balance with a life like that. He says he is just extremely lucky to have such an understanding family. Matthews pays for 3 or 4 trips to the Philippines every year to compete for the Volcanoes. The support and the financial sacrifices that the family makes are nothing short of incredible.

Wolff proves attitude beats talent

You may have noticed that these Volcanoes are all based overseas. Is it possible to be semi-professional in the Philippines and still be competitive? Google Andrew Wolff and there you have the answer. At 27, Wolff’s accomplishments are phenomenal. National athlete, Mr. World contestant, fashion model, showbiz personality, business owner and entrepreneur.

Wolff may not be the most gifted rugby player to have worn the Volcanoes jersey but his commitment to training is second to none. He was the standout player in the 2012 Asian 7s series and emphatically proves the old adage that attitude beats talent any day of the week.

Grit, determination and resilience

Coveney draws his inspiration from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson for his professionalism and versatility in different fields. Michael Letts has Tom Brady as his idol, an NFL star who was only the 199^th draft pick. Lolo Austin admires his own lolo as a survivor of the Bataan death march. But if you want real working-class, modern-day idols, look no further than these 6 junkies.

All the Volcanoes to the last man will tell you not to listen to people who try to put you down or prevent you from chasing your dreams. ‘No money’, ‘no time’, ‘no facilities’ and ‘no talent’ could all have been plausible excuses for any of them to give up. They have silenced their critics; they have proven to the world that they will be no easy beats at this year’s Rugby 7s World Cup.

In a note of congratulations to the Volcanoes, the Presidential office had this to say, “Once again we have shown that the grit, determination, and resilience at the core of our every effort can surmount any challenge.” Talk about hitting the nail on the head. I would still like to find a good Tagalog translation for the word ‘grit’ but here’s the lesson for today.

Everyday when you wake up and you feel a little off color, re-read those 3 words. Grit, determination, resilience. Nothing worthwhile is achieved without tremendous sacrifice and eliminating excuses. There is so much potential in this country, both in and out of the sporting arena. Collective success will come when each one strives sincerely for individual improvement. This is what brings true personal fulfillment when mediocrity is so easily accepted.

Show some grit and remember the stories of the adrenaline junkies. – Rappler.com