Calvo’s legacy in sports

Only one Filipino is enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame and coach Chito Calvo holds the distinction after his induction in 2007. Calvo passed away in 1977 at 74 and was named to the fourth class of Sports Hall of Famers by the PSC this year. He represented the Philippines in swimming at the 1921 and 1923 Far Eastern Games and played with Lou Salvador on the national basketball team that took the gold medal in the 1925 edition. In 1936, Calvo coached the Philippines to fifth place at the Berlin Olympics and it remains the highest finish ever by an Asian country in Olympic basketball. In 1948, he was back on the bench at the London Olympics where the Philippines made Olympic history by becoming the first team ever to score at least 100 points in a game, beating Iraq, 102-30.

Calvo began his long association with FIBA as secretary general of the Asian Basketball Confederation or ABC (now FIBA Asia) in 1964 when he attended the FIBA Congress and was appointed permanent member of the FIBA Technical Commission during the Tokyo Olympics. He was a delegate in the FIBA Congress at the 1968 Mexico Olympics where he supervised the basketball competitions with FIBA secretary general Renato William Jones and Mexican Basketball Association president Juan Manzo. In 1972, Calvo attended the FIBA Congress during the Munich Olympics as a member of the FIBA Technical Commission and four years later at the Montreal Olympics, was awarded a commemorative medal by FIBA as a surviving coach of the 1936 Berlin Games.

Calvo studied at Ateneo grade school and earned a degree in Agriculture at UP in 1926. He was a five-letter athlete at UP in basketball, football, boxing, swimming and baseball. Calvo coached basketball, football and swimming at San Beda, La Salle and UST. He also coached basketball and football at UP. Calvo became athletic director at UST and La Salle. A former US Merchant Marine, he was once employed in the sales division of San Miguel Corp. From 1948 to 1959, Calvo was president of the MICAA, precursor of the PBA and in 1951, coached the Philippines to the gold medal in basketball at the first Asian Games in New Delhi where he was also assistant to head of delegation Dr. Regino Ylanan in charge of transport and accommodations. In 1958, Calvo was elected the first ABC chairman after organizing the confederation with Yoshimi Ueda of Japan, Professor Wu of China and a delegate from Korea. In 1960, he established the Basketball Association of the Philippines, the SBP’s forerunner, with Sen. Ambrosio Padilla and Skip Guinto. At the collegiate level, Calvo made a major impact as a championship coach, leading San Beda, UST and La Salle to multiple titles. He was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame by both Ateneo and La Salle.

Calvo was married to Celeste Crow and they had six children, Denis, Judy, David, Dorothy, Donald and Dolores. Denis and David have passed away. The entire family migrated to the US in 1966. “My father was into sports as a young person,” said Judy. “But when he was just hitting his prime, his father passed away and since he was the oldest of 10 children, he had to take up caring for his family. I believe that took him away from being able to fully develop as a player but since he still loved basketball, he took up coaching. As a child, I was not aware of all his accomplishments. Only as I got older did my Mom give me more details of all he did.  He was an Olympic diver and he taught me how to swim and dive.”

Judy said the topic of conversation during family gatherings was invariably sports. “My Mom fully supported my Dad in his activities and went to almost all his games,” she said. “I, too, as a young person, went to a lot of his basketball games. My Dad’s best friend was Rogelio LaO who was on my Dad’s team and they struck up a friendship that lasted until they both passed away. When my Dad was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, a trophy was sent to my Mom. My Mom’s older sister Charity introduced my parents to each other. Aunt Charity’s husband Rafael Ygoa was an excellent basketball player and also played on one of my Dad’s teams. All my Dad’s friends were former basketball players and were not necessarily his contemporaries like Ramon Fabie, Dick Stevens, Ralph Crame and Bob and Joe Keesey. He was a friend to anyone who liked sports or who played basketball. My Dad’s grandchildren were his joy. Although he wasn’t a get-down-on-the-ground-with-them type of grandfather, he loved them all and visiting with them was always a highlight. The grandchildren whom he enjoyed were Denis’ children Christopher and Michelle and my sons Paul and Louis. My daughter Kelly was born the month he passed away and never got to meet him. Because of that, Kelly became keenly interested in our Spanish heritage and traveled to Spain to study in college. She developed a love for Spanish culture and literature and ended up being a teacher of Spanish which she continues to be to this day.” Calvo is remembered not just by his family but also by those who love sports history and cherish the legacy he left behind.