The Azkals were in the middle of their high-altitude training in Gotemba City in Honshu, on the eastern foot of Mount Fuji, south of Tokyo, when the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the Japan on March 11 this year.
While everyone in the Philippines was praying for our Japanese friends, our very own national football team had to dodge their way out of the natural disaster.
A bus ride, three train transfers – the travel out of Gotemba City was catastrophic in itself. And in the middle of it all was the Azkals’ team coordinator, the “mother hen" so they say – Ace Bright.
“Sa train station pinagtitinginan na kami nung mga Japanese kasi buhat-buhat namin lahat ng boxes tapos naka-uniform pa kami," he retells of their mission to get to Tokyo on time.
When they finally got to the airport, everyone was in such a hurry that they all toppled at the end of the escalator.
“Pagdating namin dun sa Mongolia, -25 degrees tapos wala pa yung luggage namin. So for two days, ang suot namin yung clothes pa namin from Japan," he adds.
“Parang comedy movie lang talaga," he says as if what they just went through wasn’t that bad.
Despite having to fix their routes, book their transportation, and make sure all the players were accounted for, he remains forever the cooler head in the team. And that’s probably the thing you have to admire most.
While all these is enough to give any average person a headache at the very least, it’s all part of a day’s job for Ace.
TV producer to all-around troubleshooter
Ace was born to an Australian dad and a Filipina mom. However, he’s always lived here in Manila with his family. His parents have separated a long time ago but he still visits the land down under every so often.
A big sports buff, the 26-year-old started out as a segment producer in the Philippine Basketball Association where he also produced the first lifestyle show of the PBA. He’s grown so deep into the basketball circle that some of the players’ kids are his godchildren.
He’s always been a fan of basketball and football teams so it wasn’t a shock when he became the editor in chief of the Philippine Football Federation’s newspaper.
What was a little surprising though was former national team coach Desmond Bulpin’s proposal to Ace. Back in December 2009, coach was looking for a team coordinator. Maybe Bulpin saw the potential in him or just liked how he worked. In any case, that marked a new chapter for Ace that will surely never be the same behind-the-scenes life.
Now, Ace is pretty much the face of the Azkals. He coordinates with the players, the coaching staff, the PFF, the media and everyone else in between. He also makes sure the players get their rest, even to the point of telling them to go to sleep via Twitter.
“Yung mga players sa’kin hinahanap pag wala sa activities. Mahirap lalo pag nasa airport kami tapos may mga pasaway na bigla na lang nawawala," he shakes his head and laughs.
While coordinating a team like the Azkals can sometimes take its toll on him, he’d take it over any office job. Besides, the free travels make it all worth the occasional shaking-my-head moments.
“Sinusundan ng natural disasters"
Literally. First there was Tokyo, then another earthquake when they got to Myanmar.
Okay so maybe this next story isn’t a natural disaster, but it still goes down the Azkals’ Hall of Fame of disasters.
Ray Jonsson was coming from Iceland going to Mongolia for the Challenge Cup. The sitch was that China won’t let him pass since he didn’t have a visa.
“Grabe tinawagan na namin lahat ng pwedeng tawagan non pati ambassador. Ang nangyari dumaan pa siyang Korea from Iceland bago siya nakarating ng Mongolia. Around the world in two days talaga yung ginawa niya," he recalls.
Ace says all these bond them even more. In fact, he’s grown really close to the team because he spends more time with them instead of his family.
But even then, play and work are still two different things.
“Hindi naman ako strict sa kanila kasi sport ‘to eh. Dapat cool ka lang," he says.
Finally paid off
All the years of toil finally paid off after their win over Vietnam in the Suzuki Cup last year.
“Hanggang madaling araw nasa lobby kami ng hotel, Skyping with our families and the media," he says.
That signaled the start of a new page for the Azkals. From there, they pretty much get mobbed everywhere they go especially when they went to Bacolod for the Mongolia match.
And that also meant an added item to Ace’s job description: the Azkals’ security from overly enthusiastic fans (also known as borderline stalkers).
“Sa Bacolod, wild talaga yung mga fans. Umaakyat sila sa hotel tapos sa pitch, talagang naha-harass na yung mga players. Hinahalikan sila tapos sinusubukan kunin yung personal items nila. Wild talaga," he says.
He even had to take care of a certain player (whom we will leave unnamed) from being semi-raped during an Azkals’ party here in Manila.
But it’s not all that bad. In fact, with the boom of the Azkals, even Ace developed his own fan base who call themselves “Ace Bright’s Chix and Angels." Intense, I know.
Well that’s just right considering all the hard work and long phone calls and scheduling nightmares he’s gone through, don’t you think?
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