Fair Play: What's next for Coach Yayoy?

MINUTES after Ryan Aznar’s name was called as the winner of the iPhone 5s during the 30th Sun.Star Cebu anniversary party with friends, sources and advertisers last Saturday night, I approached the Southwestern University athletic director and teased him that at least, his new gadget would ease the headache he’s having right now.

The headache, of course, involves coach Yayoy Alcoseba, who was seen on national TV hitting a player in the head, twice.



And mind you, the incident may have stemmed from what happened minutes after SWU lost to San Beda College in the PCCL Final Four, but this won’t be limited to that because aside from being a coach, Yayoy is a Cebu City councilor who’s running for a spot in the Provincial Board in next year’s election.

Those who are for or against him will surely be waiting for what SWU will do regarding the case. And coach Yayoy’s political opponents, I think, are eager to see the coach punished because the councilor who is known as one of the best tacticians in the country also use his sports platform when he’s campaigning.

And of course, coach Yayoy’s supporters won’t allow that and are hoping that the coach’s political opponents won’t get any ammunition they can use when the campaign season gets full swing.

And that’s just two sides of the story.

There is still, of course, the school. As a coach of the basketball team, Coach Yayoy is considered a mentor, and if nothing is done, I’m sure some of the SWU mentors who have strayed from their paths and have been reprimanded may ask, “Hey, we just saw our coach hit a player on national TV, live, and it’s just OK?”

Because it is a school, and it has to protect its players, SWU has to act.

And of course, there’s the player’s family. How would you feel if a family member gets humiliated like that over national TV? How would you feel if a brother, or son, or daughter gets humiliated like that, in a game that most of his or her schoolmates, friends and relatives saw?

And how would you feel if you learned that it wasn’t the first incident?

So Aznar, the athletic director of SWU, will really need that iPhone 5s to distract himself from the issues he has to deal with the next few days.

But, as the amiable athletic director told me that night, the distraction won’t be enough.

Of course, you could say, too, the ball is in Coach Yayoy’s hands now.

Just like in all other games that he has to deal with, the coach has to weigh his best options, but instead of dealing with it on the fly, he’ll have a day or two to really think things over.

And I think, before this gets out of hand, before his political opponents start printing out leaflets or start showing clips of that game over social media, the coach has to make the first move.

It’s just unfortunate that the career of one of the best basketball tacticians in the country has come down to this.

So, what will coach Yayoy do?

Choose his coaching career over his political ambitions or would it be the other way around?

Let’s wait and see.