| Interview: Gary Ella – Visit to Philippines |
|
|
|
| Written by PRFU | |
| Friday, 06 October 2006 | |
|
Rugby legend Gary Ella visited the Philippines in December last year (2005) at the request of Rick Hartley - the coach of the first all Filipino Rugby Team (Maritime Academy Academy of Asia Pacific MAAP).
InterviewQ: What did you expect to find when you got there? Gary: Although obviously I knew about the Philippines before traveling to Manila, I did not know a lot about the country and certainly wasn’t expecting to find a country with such a large population. It is a country of contrasts from the very wealthy to those who live a more traditional way of life in very modern cities. Manila is as busy as any city I have ever visited. Q: Is this sort of travel and involvement in Rugby something you do a lot of? Gary: No, I do a lot of travel most years but usually with a team from Australia. I did however travel to Japan in 1998 for 10 days to assist with Kobe Steel during their pre-season training. Kobe Steel is one of the strongest club teams in Japan. I’ve toured as a coach with the Australia A. team, the NSW Waratah Super 12 teams, a number of Club teams and Aboriginal School Boy Rugby teams. On these tours there have been opportunities to run coaching sessions with local youth teams in countries such as South Africa, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and of all places Bermuda. Q: Rugby has been played (in one form or another) in the Philippines for over a hundred years; mainly by expats from here and SA, NZ, and England through the Nomads Sports Club did you see many of the locals embracing the game. Gary: Traveling to Manila I wasn’t sure what to expect so from a Rugby point of view I went with an open mind but thought that Rugby would be dominated by ex-pats playing the game. I was surprised by the number of Filipinos playing the game and their passion for wanting to do well. I was also surprised with the number of Filipino women playing and supporting their local teams. One pleasing aspect of my trip was to see ex-pats encouraging Filipinos to play Rugby and to engage in the social aspects of the game. Q: You were there during one of their main tournaments they have every year - the Manila 7’s – what was the tournament like as far as organisation and quality of rugby went? Gary: The Manila 7’s Tournament was held in 2005 as a demonstration sport as part of the Asian Games. So from that point of view the whole country was dominated by sport the week that I was there. The Tournament itself was extremely well organized and attended. Teams that participated came from other islands of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malayasia, Singapore and local Clubs in Manila. The Rugby was of a high stand and the team that eventually won the Tournament was a team from Malaysia which contained a number Fijian players who were working and living in that country. The Malaysian team was in my opinion a world-class 7’s team. Q: There has been talk of junior development programs and sponsorships and tournaments providing resources to orphanages etc did you see any evidence/results of the social benefits of the current Rugby program in the Philippines? Gary: One of the major benefits in being associated with Rugby in any country and at any level is strength of the game’s corporate support and social environment. Clubs will always assist players with business and employment opportunities. They will also assist when players and their relatives are in need whether financially or socially. It’s always been the nature of the game. While I was in Manila I met a number of Filipino players who had found employment through members of their Club or had expanded their businesses through contacts made through playing. One player badly broke his leg during the Tournament and immediately his family was assured that the Club would meet his hospital expenses expenses. Most Clubs are also very generous when it comes to a ‘good cause’ in supporting a number of charities. Q: What were your impressions of the Philippine Rugby program as a whole? Gary: Philippine Rugby is still very young and needs to develop more resources to assist players with their physical development and skill levels. There is strong evidence with this happening with a national team of all Filipino players being selected for the first time and an upcoming Test match against Guam. Filipino players are naturally very quick and skillful which will benefit from regular quality coaching that ex-pats and overseas coaching can provide. The Manila 10’s continues to attract huge crowds each year and teams from other Clubs in the Philippines and overseas. Regular tournaments will assist in the development of the game in the Philippines. Q: What advise could you give to help further develop Rugby in the Philippines? Gary: Filipino Rugby needs to continue to bring in coaches to assist in improving the playing standard, they must also continue to seek corporate support and lift the profile of Rugby in the Philippines. Regular Test matches against countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka will improve the profile of individual players and the game itself. Players need to aspire to represent their country. Q: Your partner Kerrie accompanied you on this trip – what did she think of the experience? Gary: Kerrie thoroughly enjoyed the trip to Manila, I’m not sure if it was for the shopping or the Rugby but she was made to feel very welcomed. As I mentioned earlier Manila is a very busy city and it took both of us a while to get use to the traffic and noise. Sydney is a relatively large city but nowhere city the business of Manila. We enjoyed the hospitality and Rugby. Our trip to MAAP was particularly enjoyable. Q: Would you go back to the Philippines if invited? Gary: Definitely, I’m sure Kerrie would return as well although next time I probably would spend more time coaching and Kerrie can shop by herself. About Gary EllaGary was the youngest of the Ella brothers to play for Australia (22) at just under a year younger than his twin brothers Mark and Glen.  Photo/Foto: George Herringshaw - Date: 28th October 1981 Gary is pictured during the 1981 tour to the UK, a year before he made his debut for Australia. BORN |