|
 DIONISIO
“CHITO” CALVO, cofounder and first secretary-general of
the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC), has become the
first Filipino enshrined in the International Basketball
Federation’s (Fiba) Hall of Fame in ceremonies Thursday
in
Alcobendas,
Madrid,
Spain.
Called
one of the greatest Filipino sportsmen in history, Calvo
was inducted along with 42 other initial posthumous
honorees under the “contributors” category to the Hall
of the world governing body, which is celebrating its
75th anniversary this year.
The
ceremonies, which also saw players, coaches and
technical officials from around the world make it to the
inaugural Hall class, came before the Fiba Central Board
meeting last weekend, also in Madrid.
In the
same meeting, the board confirmed Fiba secretary-general
Patrick Baumann’s moves to recognize the Basketball
Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng
Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) as the world body’s new affiliate in
RP and to lift the indefinite suspension it placed on
the country.
Calvo,
who passed away on December 9, 1977, helped develop both
Philippine and Asian basketball. He formed the ABC—the
forerunner of the current Fiba-Asia body—with the late
Senator Ambrosio Padilla in 1960, and served as its
secretary-general from 1963 to ’67.
Born on
November 20, 1903 in Manila, Calvo also coached in the
Olympics twice. He led the RP five to a fifth-place
finish in the 1936 Games in Berlin—still the best finish
by a Filipino team and by an Asian country in the
Olympiad—and a 12th-place windup in the 1948 London
Games.
Although
the Filipinos finished poorly in 1948, they had set a
record by crushing Iraq, 102-30, in their opening
game—making the
Philippines
the first country to score over 100 points in a single
game in the Olympics.
Three
years after
London, Calvo was head coach of the first RP team that captured the
gold medal in the 1951 Asian Games in
New
Delhi, India, with a squad that included Filipino
legends Carlos Loyzaga and Lauro Mumar.
Calvo’s
biggest impact locally, however, could be traced to the
Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (Micaa)—the
precursor of the current Philippine Basketball
Association (PBA)—which he founded in 1938. As a
commercialized amateur basketball league, the Micaa
helped shape RP basketball for over 34 years.
The
University of the Philippines (UP) alumnus first made
his sporting mark as a swimmer, becoming a member of the
national team that competed in the 1921 and 1923 Far
Eastern Games, the predecessor of the Asian Games.
He
returned to the Far Eastern Games in 1925, teaming up
with Luis Salvador to lead the RP five to the gold medal
on home soil. He then spearheaded UP to the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) title a year
later.
He also
captained the Manila Sporting Goods Co. to the 1926
Philippine Open title, but eventually retired to focus
on college coaching. It was a success, as he mentored
NCAA champion teams of San Beda College and the
University of Santo Tomas. He also coached title winners
for De La Salle University in both basketball and
soccer. |
