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Beyond Reproach
Story and Pictures by: Patricia Bermudez-Hizon
(November 17, 2008)
Confucius said that the father who does
not teach his son his duties is equally guilty with
the son who neglects them. Koy Banal does not leave
any stone unturned when it comes to delineating his
son’s duties, off and especially on the hard court
as his ace playmaker.
 “There’s
so much pressure on me to play well under my dad. Others
think I got drafted because my dad’s the coach.
I need to prove that I got the spot on my own and not
because of my dad,” says Jonathan Banal, Magnolia
Purewater’s rookie guard.
“I have a tendency to be harder
on him and he has to accept that. Our relationship in
the team has to be beyond reproach, walang may masasabi,”
revealed head coach and father Koy Banal.
The father-and-son tandem know they have
much criticisms to face, more that that of a coach and
player. Coach Koy has to pay the price of being dogged
by that special kind of pressure of being coach and
father. Jonathan has to accept that he’s expected
to work doubly hard as player and as son.
 There
are ground rules. Everyone has to wear different hats.
Off the basketball court Tan describes
his father as a loving and ultra-caring head of the
family who makes time to listen to the kids’ problems
and spends time horsing around with all 5 of them. But
when the coaching cap is on, Coach Koy expects nothing
less than everything from all his players, most especially
Tan who has to be the extension of the Coach as the
court general.
Tan is working on physical strength and
endurance but continues to capitalize on his quickness
and maturity as a decision maker. It’s a bonus
that he knows how the coach thinks, a factor that’s
important as the point guard of the team.
 “Whatever
effort the players put up, I expect Tan to double that.
If he makes mistakes, I shout at him like I do the others,
though I do have a tendency to be harder on him,”
admits the veteran tactician. “Before the draft
he called me up and told me he wanted to play for me,
but I told him that it was better if he went and played
for other teams,” recalled Coach Koy. He recounted
how he told his son that he wouldn’t pick him
because Pharex has expressed interest to put him in
their lineup. But on draft night itself, the coaching
staff consulted each other, and based on their need
and based on the available talent, selected Jonathan
Banal as their 2nd round pick.
 Koy
never forced basketball on Tan, who showed love for
the game on his own volition. “When Tan was 4
years old, I put up a makeshift basketball ring in the
little space we had in the garage. I was an assistant
coach for Mapua then.” Because the car was in
the garage, the 4-year old Tan who wanted to play basketball
while daddy was away, got the keys and decided to move
the car! Needless to say, the little boy got in trouble
and even asked his dad not to send him to jail. The
father could only be secretly proud of the little boy
who had the desire to pick up a sport he also truly
loved.
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