Palaro alum Caligdong urges athletes to aim for success

MANILA, Philippines – As one of Philippine Azkals’ brightest stars and a proud product of the Palarong Pambansa himself, Emelio “Chieffy” Caligdong promises to witness the opening of the event’s 2014 edition on Sunday, May 4, ‘whether he gets invited or not.’

During the draft night of the third Clear Dream Match Wednesday night, April 30, Caligdong shared with Rappler his excitement for returning to his roots where he first experienced playing in front of an audience that came from all over the archipelago.

“I’ll be there. I don’t know if they’re gonna invite me, but I’m gonna visit there on Sunday.”

Caligdong, the hero for the Azkals in their first post-Vietnam-miracle home match in Bacolod, has managed to squeeze in the opening ceremonies of the 57^th staging of the Palarong Pambansa in his tight schedule.

To show support to the next generation of footballers, the five-foot-five football icon expressed his all-out backing to his hometown’s youngsters by making an effort to appear in the first sporting stage that molded him to become the deadly and dependable Azkal that he is today. 

Giving back

A product of grassroots sports programs himself, Caligdong says that one way he could give back is to show his support to up and coming footballers who are seeing action in the biggest sporting event in the country.

“I want to support them, most especially my schoolmates,” said the Iloilo native.

Caligdong hails from Pototan, Iloilo and was born into a family of football players. He started to play the game when he was just five years old.

As early as his grade school days, the small but speedy winger already proved his worth when he powered Western Visayas to the Palarong Pambansa limelight. 

Since then, Caligdong has dazzled everyone from the streets of his hometown in Iloilo to the packed Panaad and Rizal Memorial Stadiums.

Homegrown hero

Amidst the tremendous foreign influx in the Philippine football scene, Caligdong has stood his ground against Filipino-foreign players – who played and trained in football-worshipping countries – battling for slots on the national team.

With the trust given to him by former Philippines mentor Hans Michael Weiss, Caligdong returned the favor by scoring in big games against some of Asia’s best teams like Bahrain and Vietnam. 

With his exploits for the national squad, Caligdong raised the banner of grassroots athletes and proved that native-born Filipinos can actually excel as much as Filipino-foreign players do.

But contrary to what most athletes feel about foreigners invading the athletics stage in the country, Chieffy thinks that there is nothing wrong with welcoming Fil-foreigners and learning from them.

“I’m very happy with the quality of foreign players who come over here to share what they learned from where they came from. I’m happy that they bring their talent to our country to challenge us.”

He added that young Filipino athletes should challenge themselves and learn from what the foreigners impart to them.

“To our young and aspiring athletes, I hope that they will learn so much from what the foreigners share to them especially when it comes to their attitude in the field,” Caligdong said.

Passing the torch

Every football player’s career must one day come to a close and the long-time Azkal is not oblivious to that. Wearing the national colors ever since when the Filipinos were still the whipping boys of the region in football, Caligdong is glad to see that the team is getting loaded with younger players who will one day be the next generation’s version of Chieffy Caligdong.

“We have a lot of young players with so much potential and I’m so happy and assured that one day, someone will replace me,” he said.

In fact, Caligdong revealed that he is looking forward to coaching a team one day when it’s time to hang his cleats but immediately added that it will not be anytime soon.

“Yes of course I consider it. I am very much willing to share everything that I have learned from the national team.”

For young aspiring athletes who draw inspiration from him, Caligdong has a piece of advice filled with wisdom coming from all his experiences in and out of the pitch. 

“All that I can say to aspiring kids who look up to me, especially to the products of the Palarong Pambansa, do not ever give up. Establish your own goal and aim to be successful players. Goodluck to all of you and I wish you all the best.” – Rappler.com