Volcanoes 2.0

The Philippine rugby team, the Volcanoes, have been a model for other national sports associations to emulate. In under a decade (eight years, to be precise), they have gone from virtual non-existence to a professionally run, rapidly growing sport. Filipino players are in demand in professional leagues overseas. In Japan, they earn far more than the highest-paid PBA players, and are coveted by other countries. Considering that rugby gets almost no television exposure (except for players who enter show business like Eric Tai and Andrew Wolf), play international tournaments that are months apart, and is not an American sport, these are all remarkable achievements.

“When Facebook came along, we found all of these amazing, talented players online,” recalls Matt Cullen, then Philippine team head coach and now program director for the Philippine Rugby Football Union. “We had a whole bunch of them who had grown up playing rugby at a high level abroad, were actual Filipino passport holders, and wanted to play for their country.”

That first squad set the bar high for the next generations, sweeping the Asian tournaments over the next few years, climbing from Level 4 (Level 5 was only added later) to the Elite division. In fact, they hosted the Asian Five National (A5N) tournament at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, swept, and were promoted to the Elite division on their home pitch. That tournament was carried by both ESPN and ABS-CBN. Meanwhile, the union was growing its corporate social responsibility, bringing underprivileged children from Tondo out to parks on weekends, feeding them, reading them stories, providing them clothing and teaching them values through rudimentary rugby. That practice has grown to include free weekend rugby clinics at the PhilSports field and Marikina Sports Complex, and other charity programs.

Meanwhile, that first batch of overachievers – male and female – both earned invitations to the Hong Kong Sevens, the most prestigious tournament in Asia. In their respective maiden outings, the men did reasonably well, while the undersized Filipinas were able to win one match against opponents twice their size. But along the way, the Volcanoes were also able to win the hearts of many through features on ESPN, where team captain Jake Letts was heard reminding the squad that they were playing for their motherland. Regardless of where they were raised, the Volcanoes all learned to sing “Lupang Hinirang” and are the only Philippine team that climbs into the stands to hug their mothers after every match.

Parallel to the rise of soccer’s Azkals, the predominantly mestizo first batch of Volcanoes also did their share of making waves. Their beefcake underwear billboard along Guadalupe on EDSA literally stopped traffic, provoking the MMDA to declare a ban on any and all sexy billboards, something no bikini-clad actress’ image was ever able to accomplish. There was also some good-natured protestation on social media, as women complained that it was the first time they had a chance to ogle someone while stuck in traffic.

All this success also attracted the attention of recruiters in Japan, where league rules allow for each team to have four foreign players, including one with an Asian passport. The bonus was that, in acquiring a Filipino player, the teams got someone who also grew up playing top-level rugby with similar skills as the other foreign reinforcements from Australia, New Zealand and so on. Unfortunately, as the players grew older, they also saw beyond their careers on the national team.

“When we got these players, they were around 22, 23 years old,” Cullen explains. “Now, at 27, 28 years old, they’re thinking of family, career, etcetera. And the Japanese teams likewise stopped allowing them to play for the Volcanoes. So we lost quite a bit of talent. Now, we had a good succession plan. But there’s still a learning curve.”

In the meantime, the Volcanoes lost a couple of matches and were relegated to Division 2, but have an opportunity to get back to the top class in February. But unknown to many, they have already started a robust grassroots development program in the provinces. Davao alone includes 66 schools with rugby programs. Legaspi and Cebu have been identified as fertile grounds for future rugby development. This week, the Department of Education is also studying the final draft of an agreement with the PRFU to include the sport in physical education programs. Accredited coaches will train PE teachers in the fundamentals of the sport, making it accessible to millions of school children. Six years ago, arnis was similarly made part of the PE curriculum, but needed a law to do so.

There is also an on-going sevens tournament with 23 teams participating. The association itself has moved into new offices in Pasig, and have partnered with sponsor JML to streamline and professionalize their hiring, compensation and accounting processes. Grants from the world body are also coming in, and international broadcasts of past matches are available for viewing online. All this activity is accelerating the spreading of the gospel of rugby throughout the country, at a pace and professionalism which should be the envy of many.