An Archer's Chronicle

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Great Family with the Grand Sporting Tradition

By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

It is the legacy that the Banzon family are carrying on that competitive spirit reigns.


It was a pleasant surprise to catch a brood of the Banzons who regularly meet for lunch in what they called a family room during Sunday in a compound located in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City along West Avenue.

This sprawling family room went through major restoration after a fire gutted it completely in 1994. It housed the first generation of the Banzon’s when they became one of the recognized families dedicated to sports in the country.

This year, the Banzons are flying to Macao to celebrate their parents’ 50th anniversary. Dr. Conrado Banzon Sr., 83, a first cousin of Doña Aurora Banzon Magsaysay, got married to Nenita Delgado. Conrado Sr. is an EENT specialist who has practised in UST hospital for many decades. Though not as competitive as an athlete as his offsprings, Dr. Banzon has won numerous tournaments as a golfer. Honoured in 2000 as one of the most outstanding physician in the country by the Professional Regulators Commission, his long list of professional achievements has cascaded down to his children in a manner that bespeaks of commitment and excellence in whatever it is they do.

The Banzons have a strange yet wonderful tradition. Would you believe that almost every one of them graduated in Assumption and Ateneo de Manila University? Plus all the Delgado sisters were married on September 12.

Aside from the fact that the Banzons are all Blue Blooded, what binds these athletes together is their passion for sports. Name it: track and field, long jump, triple jump, tennis, karate, golf, bowling, baseball, volleyball, basketball. It is this tradition that they carry on with a competitive spirit.

It was actually the late Conrado Jr., or fondly called “Radito” Banzon [HS ’75, Management Engineering ‘78], the eldest among the family of seven, who started sports in the family particularly in basketball and track and field at Ateneo. Unfortunately, Radito, the track captain died due to heart attack after crossing the finish line in the 1981 MILO Marathon, thus making him the first casualty of the said annual event.



With fine looks, comes a great heart

There’s nothing shocking with the fact that Marcel Banzon [HS ‘76], who’s next to Radito is also into track and field. Undeniably, the Banzons led the legacy in track in Ateneo. The only doctor in the family, Marcel specializes in Pediatric Opthalmology. Moved by his new passion in education, he teaches part time at St. Scholastica, UST, and Makati Medical Center.

Marcel has been married for 20 years to wife Nina Raymundo, the muse of ‘76 La Salle basketball team, whom he met during a date arranged by a common friend. At that time, Nina was already employed in Far Eastern Bank while Marcel was having his internship at UST.

The good-looking couple is blessed with four children – Luigi, 20, Carlo, 18, Gianna, 16, and Radito, 10. “When our youngest child was born, I stopped working because I wanted to focus on my kids,” the former muse says. “All of them are currently baseball players and members of the Philippine baseball youth teams.” The couple believes that engaging in sports will keep them balanced and will keep them away from any form of distractions such as joining the wrong group.

Joining the Blue Eagles Basketball Alumni since 1980, Marcel was one of the pioneers who helped the organization during its [two] shaky championships. At 48, he is still an active participant in the Ateneo Alumni Basketball League (ABL) and has been a part of the champion team in 2004.


Competition stems from the heart

An Atenean through and through, Rene Banzon’s [HS ’78, Business Management ‘82] kids, Leandro, 12 and Roque, 9 used to be a Blue Eagle until one day they found themselves in the Integrated Montessori Center [Pasay]. But they hope to go back in Ateneo for high school.

A former member and champion of the Philippine Shooting team, Chikee, Rene’s wife, had competed in several SEA Games competitions. Once again, adding to the already sports-laden bloodline of the Banzon clan.

Flashback to 1974, the Atenean spirit was quite different than now. During Rene’s times, there was more intensity.

Having started early, his co-athletes witnessed how Rene metamorphosed into a brawny, vigorous, yet sensible man. He started as a football player in high school, carrying on the belief that the football program develops agility, foot work, and patience.

A member of the Ateneo varsity basketball team, Rene capped his achievements when he won the Athlete of the Year in 1978. Some of his teammates during the NCAA season were Ogie Narvasa, Steve Watson, Padim Israel, and Jojo Gamboa.

With his accomplishments in the world of track and field and basketball, Rene stands out from the rest when he was recognized into the prestigious Hall of Fame – Fabilio No. 9.

Currently, the former hard court star is part of the Ateneo Sports Foundation. He tries to help the Blue Eagles in terms of exposing the players in a competitive level of sports development.


The accidental, but fulfilled athlete

“I chose Ateneo because my brothers are all there,” started Lizette.

An accidental athlete herself, Lizette Banzon Cojuanco [Interdisciplinary ‘83] revealed to BlueBlood that since her brothers was athletes, whether she likes it or not, she had to patiently wait for them after training. So instead of just waiting, she decided to join the track and field team. During her stint, it was the time when Ateneo was able to gather a lot of women for the varsity track and field. Winning second place in the 100 meter dash against Asia’s fastest woman, Lydia de Vega, was a major achievement for her. She trained long and hard to hone her athletic skills but mused that she did so while having an umbrella on the field.

Husband Miguel “Mickey” Cojuanco [HS ’79, Legal Management ‘83] and Lizette started as good friends in college. Unknowingly, they would end up with each other.

Perhaps, it’s the Atenean philosophy and fundamental principles that stirred their chemistry. “I think I’m blessed to have the Chinese and Western philosophy. It helped with most of the things that I have now,” Lizette candidly says.

She realized that even in business, you must have an exposure in philosophy to be able to get a wider scope and wider point of view in life because it makes you a more creative person.

Having a reputation of a true Blue Blood, Mickey thought that his Atenean education formed him to be balance in studies and to enjoy leisure life – studying smarter and studying harder at the same time.

A combination of athletic skill, good-breeding, and confidence, Mickey believes that belonging in the Banzon family is something else. The couple tries to extend that tradition to the next level. In fact, their son Anton, 16, is part of the varsity basketball while their daughter Ivy, 14, is into softball.


The Plyo-Man is SportsMan for Others


Much as sports equates to a world of record-breaking competition, Raul – the fifth of the brood – carries this reverent passion to have young athletes surpass the records he had achieved all through his athletic career.

Apart from often being remembered by his batchmates as the “Athlete of the Year” awardee, Raul became national champion in the long jump division and a multi-titled track athlete in the UAAP. He graduated from Ateneo High School in 1983. A year and a half later, he was sent to the U.S. to pursue an Olympic dream in track and field as a member of the Gintong Alay National Team and attended college at the California State University in Long Beach.

Needless to say, it was time well-spent for this was to become the very concept that inspired Raul to found the sports training company, PlyoSports, now “the” country’s training haven for all athletes who nurture the passion to excel in the sport they had chosen.

Raul is married to Ritzie Ampil Javier, who herself comes from a family of Ateneans. She is an alumna of the Assumption in San Lorenzo, belonging to High School Batch ’87 and a Cum Laude graduate of the Broadcasting Communications course in U.P. Diliman, which she stood for as a muse during the UAAP opening in 1991. Despite such an accolade with prior advertising and marketing work experience in some of the country’s most prestigious firms, Ritzie chose a career as a full-time mom, appearing in television commercials from time to time. “Of course, there’s always a trade-off.”

The beneficiaries of these parents’ devotion are nine-and-a-half-year-old Quinito and younger brother, Julio, who had just turned 7. Naturally, both kids train at PlyoSports to hone their basic athletic skills at the very least. While Raul restrains himself “with much effort” to impose his choice of sports on his own sons, he is quite content to see them enjoy dabbling into basketball, soccer, badminton and even taekwondo.

Besides being a great family man and sportsman for others, Raul is also an entertainer and a gifted sax player. He had been part of the pop rock band, Overdrive, since its beginnings in 1984, and for five years since its reunion/revival in 2001. Recently, he managed to form a new executive band which they call “Working Stiff“, playing smooth jazz fusion (a genre close to Raul’s heart), in hopes of developing jazz appreciation for both the young and the young-at-heart.


From volleyball to family star

Her effort to raise her eight kids [Nicky, 20, Mickael, 18, Chiara, 17, Mauro, 15, Sandro, 14, Bea, 13, Martin, 11, Emilio, 6] didn’t go unnoticed. She was able to run her own Personal Care Products business with her own brand Handguard and Candy. In a few months, she’ll have a cologne line for teens as the target niche.

Meet Monique Banzon Daez, 40, the widower who was married at an early age to the late UAAP basketball and track and field star, Leo Daez [HS’ 80].

Prior to her moving to Ateneo, she has already attended school affairs from grade school to secondary school. Since becoming an Atenean, she found the Blue Eagles’ haven more exciting and more alluding even when her brothers were still there. In high school, she was extraordinarily comfortable so when she got to Ateneo for college, it was nothing new at all.

A volleyball player in her senior year in Assumption, she was expected to join track in the university. “I was looking for the track Atenean spirit which I saw during the times of my sisters and brothers but it was missing. I have one solid group of friends so I felt it was boring in track team,” disclosed Monique.

She wanted a team sport to meet new faces. Among the girls, she was always athletic so there’s nothing to prove.


A woman with a distinct career trail

Due partly to scoliosis, Yvonne Climent, 39, stopped playing for the varsity team, yet still found reason to smile during Ateneo vs La Salle games. The youngest in the family, she’s one of the most die-hard Ateneo fans ever.

His husband Tonico Climent, who is a La Sallite, is not willing at all to discuss such rivalry with her. Yvonne is into real estate while Tonico is the General Manager of a pharmaceuticals company. They are blessed with three children namely Carolina 11, Rocio 9, and Antonio, 1.

The athletic bloodline does not merely stop at Yvonne’s. Tonico adds to the Banzon tradition by being one of the top Filipino tennis players of his time. He represented the country in various international tennis competitions alongside Felix Barrientos, Roland So, and Raymond Suarez. At present, he continues to be fit by doing cycling, golf, and pretty soon, triathlon.
From the late track star, doctor, Hall of Fame awardee, accidental athlete, Plyoman and musician, widow businesswoman to real estate agent… They share the same passion, which is sport. All of them give their selfless love and untiring support to their kids, serving as a role model, good example and inspiration to the next level of Banzons.

1 Comments:

At 9:23 AM, Blogger hurdler49 said...

Great post on the Banzons. Track & field represent!

 

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