On Paper: The 1st In the Huddle National Campus Sports Writing Congress

The 1st In the Huddle National Campus Sports Writing Congress

By Manolo Pedralvez, People's Tonight

THE In the Huddle Campus Sports Writing Workshop had an inauspicious and very wet beginning: a victim of Typhoon Ondoy’s onslaught that brought rain hard, long and fast, bringing misery to millions in Metro Manila for two straight days a year ago.  

Among Ondoy’s casualties was this fledgling course conceived by youthful scribe and Ignite school paper adviser Josiah Albelda, whose family also bore a huge brunt of the storm’s fury.    

We were invited by Albelda as one of the resource persons for the occasion and accepted his invitation to stay overnight with him at their family apartment in Cubao, Quezon City since the course would start early the next day. Rain had began pouring already that fateful Friday, Sept. 25, but little did we both know that it was just a harbinger of what lay ahead the next day.

Nonetheless, Abelda, yours truly and about 40 hardy workshop participants showed up at the JCA Seed Dome despite the inclement weather and began our seminars.

By noon, the downpour had no sign of letting up and, worried over the kids getting back home, Josiah decided to cut the workshop short so they could still get a ride – and thank goodness all of them, though wet, were able to return to their respective houses.

For the Albelda household, however, life was never the same again. 

We’ve already chronicled how their family homestead in San Francisco del Monte was submerged, damaging most of their prized belongings beyond restoration, even as they were able to save its ageing tenants at the height of the storm. 

Anyone else who suffered the same fate may have questioned why this tragic thing happened to them, but not the Albeldas. Armed with indomitable faith, they collectively rolled up their sleeves and started to rebuild their lives. 

And as for the In the Huddle sports writing course, Josiah,  to his credit, didn’t leave it mired in the Ondoy puddle. 

In fact, in November, a bigger and larger workshop is in store as the inaugural In the Huddle National Campus Sports Writing Congress from Nov. 8 to 12 at the Jesus Saves Global Outreach Academy (JCA) Seed Dome. Albelda, who won this year’s PBA Press Corps Sports Writing contest, foresees close to 500 students and 300 school paper advisers nationwide taking part in this campus journalism showcase.    

Included in the stellar list of resource speakers are Inquirer assistant sports editor Francis Ochoa, a peerless basketball writer and perhaps the best all-around sports scribe we have today, Sports Digest senior writer Kristina Maralist, whose features make the mag a best-seller, up and coming Jonas Terrado of the Bulletin, seminal sports columnist Rick Olivares of Business Mirror,  Rafe Bartholomew, author of Pacific Rims, sportscaster TJ Manotoc and,  ahem, this scribbler, among others.  

Among the sports celebrities being lined up are Allan “The Triggerman” Caidic and FEU hotshot RR Garcia, MVP of the last UAAP men’s basketball championship.

Albelda said the Congress fee is pegged at P650, but organizer Ignite Academic Training is offering an “early-bird” rate of P550 until October 29, while groups of five and 11 (from one school) are entitled to discounts of   P2500 and P5000, respectively.

For more inquiries and registration, contact IAT at (0906) 444 3878, (02) 439 8568 or e-mail at igniteworkshops@rocketmail.com. Updates are also posted regularly at the event’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/ith2010.

If you’re  a campus journalist who wants to have a glimpse into the exciting world of sports writing, the 1st In the Huddle  National Campus Sports Writing Congress is a cant-miss event.  

* This appeared in Bong Pedralvez's Right On column at People's Tonight (October 8, 2010)