Ateneo's Kieffer Alas maintains no initiation rites held during ill-fated team-building
MANILA, Philippines — An Ateneo de Manila University player who had been part of the team’s tragic team-building session a week ago shot down speculations that initiation rites were part of the activity.
Breaking his silence on the out-of-town team trip that claimed the lives of their teammates Divine Adili and Rene Baterbonia, rookie Kieffer Alas sat with third-year teammate Sam Reyes with The Pod Network Entertainment hosted by journalist Pia Hontiveros.
Alas, in particular, denied being the subject of initiation rites typically conducted by fraternities on neophytes.
“Not at all. Just hurts how people perceive it that way. I know my veterans wouldn’t even think of that,” he said.
“They wouldn’t do that (physical harm) to me,” added Alas, saying he was instead hurt by such speculations online.
Alas and Reyes maintained that the trip to a resort in Aurora was meant to strengthen the Blue Eagles’ chemistry and "mental toughness" as they head into UAAP Season 88.
But what was supposed to be a routine training session turned out to be a nightmare, with Adili and Baterbonia — another incoming rookie — succumbing to drowning.
Reyes and Alas were part of the group that was carried the farthest from the shores after three batches of huge waves broke and split the Blue Eagles into different units, as per Alas.
Reyes said they had been warned about rip currents that are prevalent in the harsh waters of Aurora.
“We had meetings before training that Coach Tab (Baldwin) explained about rip currents and how to get out of (those),” recounted Reyes.
“(There was) a pretty long discussion about it. Like swim vertical to the shore pag may rip current. They warned us about uneven sand. Like you can randomly go back down and up,” added Alas.
“They were telling us to pack a lot of gear. Like shorts, socks, they were telling us that we’re gonna do a lot of work on the sand and water,” said Reyes.
Alas said the players have also been briefed about getting fatigued during the training sessions.
“Other than that, we were excited,” he said.
Now, Alas, Reyes and the rest of the Blue Eagles will have to take some time off before hitting the hard court.
Ateneo has already withdrawn from the ongoing FilOil Preseason Cup, and its UAAP Season 88 campaign remains up in the air.
The Blue Eagles also saw the departure of head coach Tab Baldwin and team manager Epok Quimpo, whose resignations were accepted by Ateneo on Monday, June 15.
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