Editors’ Note: This is the commencement address delivered by Coach Emmanuel Rene “Noli” S. Ayo to the senior high school graduates of Genesis Colleges, Inc. (Camarines Sur) on June 1, 2024, at the Summit Hotel in Naga City.

A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.

— John Wooden (winner of 10 NCAA national championships as coach of the UCLA Bruins)

Dear Genesis Colleges Graduates…

I am at my core a basketball coach. If you look at the birth certificate of my son, under the occupation asked about the parent — I placed there — “Basketball Coach.”

I spent 10 beautiful years as a basketball coach, and I spent most of it here in Naga City. In those years, I have achieved milestones for Ateneo de Naga and have helped set standards that are felt until now.

Of the many things I have helped start and achieved for Ateneo, one stands out as very close to my heart — it is the Ateneo Basketball Camp (ABC), coincidentally, the 17th ABC starts on Monday.

When I started it some 19 years ago, I decided to emphasize 3 lessons that will be taught to all our campers every year. It will serve as the common language that will be instilled to all the young boys and girls who will go through the month-long basketball experience. Allow me to share these lessons with you today.

First — Work Hard

Way back in 2017, I invited a good friend, Mr. Carlo Buenaflor, the GM of Biggs, to give a talk to a group of sports leaders from Mindanao. It was held in one of the big hotels in Ortigas in Manila. There were several speakers that day that we invited. However, Carlo left a statement that has guided me significantly in my own journey of self-development:

“If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.”

Reflecting on that line, it made me realize the value of continuous improvement and how important it is in life. We should always seek places that would allow us to strive harder and make us want to be better.

And that is what my first point is all about.

Work hard to learn more. Work hard to discover what you are good at. Work hard to pursue your passion. Work hard to discover your weaknesses. Work hard to be the best version of yourself.

Spend a good amount of time in college to work hard to make yourself better — travel, learn a new language, read books you don’t normally read, experience things you never experienced before. That, my dear young graduates, is part of working hard.

Work hard and allow yourself to travel the bigger world — visit Japan, Korea, Europe. See things that will make you wow and wonder. And as you are wowed and wonder, ask yourself, “how can I bring this experience back to Bicol?”

Work hard to find the best fit for you — as Joseph Campbell best said it in his book, a Hero’s Journey, work hard to find your right place on earth — in that “place where God calls you” — this place is “the place where your deep gladness and the world’s hunger meet.”

If you can, put yourself in that space where God calls you to be. Then work hard to shine brightly.

Second — Be a team player

One of the things that I was able to do in Mindanao was to help start an organization called — Mindanao Peace Games. If you Google search me, use 5 words “Noli Ayo Mindanao Peace Games.” There you will see what I have been doing in the area of Sports and Development. The Mindanao Peace Games highlight three important words — Kalaro, Kaibigan, Kasama.

The idea is to find people who will be your “Kasama” or “Kaiba”. Mga makakaiba mo sa pagibo ning marhay. Mga kaiba mo sa paggibo ning toltol asin kapakipakinabang sa iba.

Allow me to share a line in a book that captures the essence of “team player:”

The people we surround ourselves with either raise or lower our standards. They either help us become the best version of ourselves or encourage us to become lesser versions of ourselves. We become like our friends. No man becomes great on his own. No woman becomes great on her own. The people around them help make them great.

We all need people in our lives who raise our standards, remind us of our essential purpose and challenge us to become the best version of ourselves.

As you find those people that will help you achieve your best version of yourself, be mindful that you also be that person to help others find their best version. However, you can only make others better if you yourself is better. So just like my earlier point, Work Hard to be Better. Work Hard to be a Team Player.

Be someone whose presence makes others better. Be an ultimate Team Player and help make the teams that you will be part of better. May your presence be significant and relevant to those that will experience it. Be a better son, be a better friend, be a better cousin, be a better classmate, be a better girlfriend/boyfriend. Be better.

Finally — Have the right attitude

In 2018, one former player got married in Surigao. He asked me to be one of his Ninongs in the wedding. I arrived the day before the wedding. He was then (until now) already based in Norway. He met his wife there.

He treated me to lunch that day, together with 3 other former coaches and teammates who flew to Surigao for the wedding.

After we ate, he asked if he could talk to me privately. And when he did, he told me how thankful he was for two important lessons I and the basketball program taught him — these lessons helped him create a positive outlook during his difficult times in Norway.

The way you think dictates the way you act.

If one approach does not work, use another.

These two attitudes were intentionally ingrained in all my players when I was a coach. I believed in its truth, and I knew it would hold true even beyond the playing years of my player.

So, my point here is this — hold on to attitudes that will be your anchor as you move forward in life. Hold on to attitudes that will be true now and will be true in the future. It may take a different shape from time to time, but its value and truth will remain.

Your attitudes will guide your choices — it will impact your path. It will influence your journey in life and the decisions you make. So be mindful of your attitudes — they can make or break you. They can let you soar or let you remain on the ground.

Dear graduates of Genesis Colleges — Work Hard, Be a Team Player and Have The Right Attitude. May these lessons serve you well. It may not be written at the back of your togas, but today, may its value be instilled and be written in your minds and in your hearts.

A hopeful visionary and an inspiring storyteller, Noli is a believer that sports, if placed in hands of the right people, has the power to change the world.

Header photo features the Ateneo de Naga basketball team in action at the 2018 BUCAL.