Looking back with grateful heart: Dodong Gullas honors Pages, Tabura for bringing JRG Tennis Cup to greater heights

CEBU, Philippines - For the past two decades, they've always been in the shade of the participants being members of the organizing committee.

But for one special moment, John Owen Z. Pages and Fritz Tabura stand tall and proud with the spotlight beaming upon them this time.

Yesterday, Cebuano sportsman, educator and philanthropist Jose 'Dodong' R. Gullas paid tribute to Pages and Tabura for their selfless dedication and invaluable contribution to the overwhelming success the JRG Gullas Tennis Cup has attained through the years.

From its humble beginnings in 1995, the Gullas Cup had grown into one of the biggest and longest running junior tennis event in the country outside of Metro Manila.

Now on its 21st season, Gullas can't help but walk down memory lane with a heart full of gratitude.

"Having this event for 21 years already is not an easy thing to do," said Gullas. "But without Mr. John Pages and coach Fritz, we would not have reached this far. To them, I am deeply grateful."

"It seems but only yesterday when you and I came into a very timely agreement to develop a tennis program for the youth so that they will never, never, never go into drugs, be more focused in their studies and be more prayerful and God fearing. John, you made this annual program possible for Dodong for 21 long years," reads the message of Gullas engraved in a specially designed plaque he personally handed to Pages during the formal opening of  the 21st JRG Gullas Tennis Cup yesterday at the Consolacion Tennis Club in Barangay Laray, Consolacion.

"Your helping hands have really touched Dodong with your kind assistance in the staging of  the Jose R. Gullas Tennis Cup for the youth for 21 long years," said Gullas in a separate message of thanks to coach Tabura.

When sought for his response, Pages said he is humbled by the award, admitting that it really caught him by surprise.

"This award, we all should have given this to sir Dodong. Among all the Cebuanos I know, sir Dodong exemplifies the spirit of a true Christian and he's truly a model for the kind of life he leads, something that we all should follow," said Pages, who once served as president of the Sportswriters Association of Cebu.

With memory as bright as the full moon, Pages fondly recalled that one sunny afternoon in early 1995 at the Cebu Country Club when Gullas broached upon him the idea of putting up a developmental tournament for aspiring netters. That eventually led to the establishment of  the Gullas Tennis Cup.

Fast forward to present, the Gullas Cup is now the most sought-after junior tennis tournament in the Visayas and Mindanao. It was the first event to garner a Group 2 ranking by the Philippine Tennis Association.

Through the years, the Gullas Cup has cultivated dozens of national champions. The names Jacob Lagman, Fitzgerald Tabura, Sally Mae Siso, Oswaldo Dumoran, and even Francis Casey “Niño” Alcantara – the 2009 Australian Open junior doubles champion – have, in their storied careers, all been called “Gullas Cup champions.”

As action of  the five-day tilt kicked off  yesterday, Gullas reminded the present crop of athletes three important things in life, upon which the solid foundation of the Gullas Cup have been built -  to never forget their studies, to stay away from the evil of drugs, and to be prayerful at all times because for him 'prayers can move mountains, and make the impossible possible." (FREEMAN)