Changing the courtside concept: Sel Guevarra and Erika Padilla

MANILA, Philippines—If Sel Guevara doesn’t stray from the path that she has mapped out for herself, she could not only become one of the top broadcasters in the country but also, however inadvertently, destroy stereotypes currently dominating the basketball world.

Inadvertently, because reshaping the way Philippine society views its female sportscasters would really just be an offshoot of what the 22-year-old former cheerdancer really plans to do.

“I just want to keep getting better,” she told the Inquirer. “I don’t want to ‘plateau’ in this career. I want to keep learning and keep getting better so that girls will continue getting the respect they deserve in this line of work.”

It is easy to buy into her passion. It is easy to believe that she plans to sponge up every bit of information she can lay her hands on to become one of the best in her field. This is, after all, the same person who, at the height of one typhoon, didn’t mind soaking herself in the churning, murky waters of the Manila Bay just to put emphasis on a story she was reporting for TV5 news.

Guevara plans to bring the same amount of dedication to courtside reporting. She joins three other talented ladies on the AKTV roster of courtside reporters in the coming 37th season of the PBA.

Also hoping to change the notion that courtside reporters are nothing but refreshing breathers for male action junkies getting their testosterone fix is actress and television personality Erika Padilla.

“If we need to lace up our rubber shoes and get physical to make a segment work, we’re willing to do just that,” said the 25-year-old Padilla. “I for one won’t hesitate to get sporty and sweaty to come up with a good segment.”

The other two ladies who will man the courtside during PBA games include radio and TV celebrity Angelicopter and former Ateneo courtside reporter in the UAAP Jessica Mendoza.

For a PBA audience accustomed to all that machismo, it’s hard to really take female sportscasters seriously. Among the few who made their mark and broke barriers include current AKTV commentator Patricia Bermudez-Hizon and former courtside reporter Jannelle So.

Guevara and Padilla could soon join their ranks and prove they’re not just pretty faces reading questions out of someone’s index card. And it’s not just because they’ve got the brains to go with the looks. Guevara, 22, is a social science graduate minor in philosophy. Padilla is a political science graduate. Both studied in Ateneo.

Aside from their smarts, they are very much aware of the demands of PBA fans because at one point in their lives, they were in the middle of all that adoration frenzy. In Guevara’s case, her dad Oscar and her uncles are rabid PBA fans and their fervor rubbed off on her. Padilla, on the other hand, used to tag along with siblings Dudai and Nicole to watch live games of the Marlou Aquino-era  Barangay Ginebra.

Heck, they can even get in on the action if they want to.

“I used to play basketball. But I realized the sport wasn’t for me because I’d keep getting into these arguments with other players because I adore my dad, who adores Robert Jaworski and the Ginebra of old. And for a while, I really thought basketball was played the way Ginebra under Jaworski played it so I’d end up hurting players,” Guevara said laughing.

Padilla, on the other hand, is a certified gym rat who keeps her body in shape with regular workouts. She plays volleyball and badminton and even gets on the skateboard when the mood hits her.

And knowing sports first-hand gives them an edge.

“You realize that athletes, basketball players, you just can’t reduce them to numbers on the stat sheet,” said Guevara. “There’s always a story behind every performance. There’s drama. Our challenge is to ask the right questions until we get the story behind the athletes.”

“We want to bring out the human element of basketball,” said Padilla. “We want to know every player’s personality and we want to find sub-stories aside from the game itself.”