Breanne Chan Everly Dator Alliah Tan Giselle Co Carmen So SA 21 J Ethnographic Project: Ball is Life The Activity On April 12, 2019, the group attended a basketball practice at The Upper Deck from 2:00-4:00pm. The program, Method Basketball Academy 2019 Summer Camp: Module 1, started on March 27, 2019 and ends on April 12, 2019 with trainings thrice a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday); therefore, the group observed the final day of the program. Before this, the members of the group gathered to prepare for the observation. Upon arrival, we then introduced ourselves to the coach and thanked him for allowing us to observe his training session. The coach also instructed us with how to talk to the kids and handle the session, giving us an expectation of how the activity will proceed. The coach proceeded to introduce us to the players which consisted of kids ranging from ages six to fourteen years old. There were a total of 22 kids participating in the activity. Among these, there was only one girl while the rest were boys. The head coach is LA Tenorio, who had four assistant coaches to administer a more hands-on session. The children were then separated into their level of skill, beginner or advanced. Only four kids went to the right side of the court for the advanced practice while the rest were grouped as beginners. The session started with a jogging exercise around the court for 10 minutes which the group joined together with the kids. Dynamic stretching activities followed suit to warm-up the muscles and joints. The purpose of the first drill was to teach and master the basics of dribbling to the players. Players were tasked to dribble a basketball around the cones. The group helped in setting up the cones and picking up balls that fell off the hands of the players. The second drill is a footwork drill which is supposed to improve the players’ movement in the court such as passing and pivoting. The group continued to help with setting up the cones and helped the coach in timing each drill. Next, the group arranged the cones for the ball handling drill. This is to combine the skills of dribbling and footwork which aims to enhance hand-eye coordination. The fourth drill is for passing and blocking to help the kids in defense while playing basketball. This also enabled the kids to engage and play with one another as the earlier drills were done individually. For this activity, the members helped the coach pass and pick up balls. All of the aforementioned drills were done for 10 minutes each. Moreover, during these drills, the assistant coach would pull out 2 players at a time to teach the proper stance and form in shooting. The last drill was to practice shooting wherein the players go in a line and shoot free throws one by one. This drill lasted for 20 minutes. A short break was given after each of the drills for the young players to drink water, wipe their sweat or change their shirts. The last part of the session was a match play for 40 minutes. Because the members were not completely aware of game rules and could not join with the children, the group was instructed to simply watch the game and keep track of the points. Because the session was the last of the entire training program, certificates were handed out to the players and the group took their class photo together with the coaches. The members thanked the coaches for allowing us to participate in a fun and engaging session and the coach also thanked the members for helping out with the activities and ensuring the safety of the children. Experience of The Group Basketball has always been one of Philippines’ most fascinating sports for it provides not only a thrill of excitement to its players and audiences; but also, it gives a sense of satisfaction once a certain team wins. The joy of a basketball match for a player is to win as it is for the supporters. People frequently think that basketball is a sport simply enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities; however, our group believes that basketball is more than just a sport itself. After facilitating a two hour long basketball practice, the group members were able to experience similar feelings of physical exhaustion and personal fulfillment as to the basketball players, and coaches interacted with. Indeed it was a tiring activity for the group members had to exert their physical abilities to be able to assist the coaches and the players; however, it was at the same time fulfilling to know that our group was able to cater to their needs. Prior to the activity, the group members felt anxious towards what to expect and how to handle the situations given during the practice. Our group thought that the coaches might be very strict when it comes to training; thus, regarding our invitation to participate with them was bothersome. Despite all these negative thoughts, the coaches gave us a warm welcome to their training camp and told us not to worry as much. To prepare us for the session, the head coach briefed us on what to expect during the activity as well as how to handle the situations our group was about to face. As the activity began, our nervousness slowly faded away as the conversation with the coach earlier made us more comfortable with the environment around us. The group definitely enjoyed the company of the basketball players along with the coaches during the drills and exercises. As the players were split into beginners and advanced, the head coach instructed us to help facilitate the assistant coaches with their needs. The group enjoyed the company of the players and the coaches while facilitating the drills. The kids were very ecstatic while playing the sport; hence, it motivated the group to help the kids improve on their craft. Their eagerness and perseverance to learn the sport encouraged the group members to be patient when it comes to assisting them with their needs. After the activity, the group members felt physically exhausted and noticed that the coaches felt the same too. Despite being tired, they still had huge smiles on their faces and continued playing with the kids. Most of the time, being “just” a sports coach exposes you to the public’s scrutiny and evaluation. Society neglects the fact that these coaches have personal motivations as regards to why they are passionate into pursuing their job. Coaches have the ability to instill values into their players and shape their character. They are great mentors who offer valid advice and only want to see their athletes succeed. After seeing the coaches’ motivation to teach the players regardless of them being tired, the group felt a sense of fulfillment towards the activity they participated in. Overall, the group felt absolutely happy and contented after catering to the needs of the people who participated in the basketball practice. People’s Responses Upon arriving at the venue, the coach was very nice and welcoming. He understood what we needed to achieve in joining the basketball training session, so it was really kind of him to give us certain tasks that we could do so that we could participate in their training session. One of which was making us join the warm-up jog and dynamic stretching with the kids, and he also told us to help in the facilitation of their drills. The coach and his assistants were also really grateful for our help as training young players can sometimes be handful. They also said that our presence somehow influenced their training session since some of the kids were more behaved than usual. With regards to how the kids responded, they were a little shy at first since it wasn’t normal for them to have some strangers observing and interacting with them. Some of them were quite hesitant to talk to us since they didn’t know us. The coach, however, introduced us to them and mentioned that we will be helping them with their session for that day. Towards the middle of the session, the kids were more comfortable with us since they started to communicate with us, and some of them also wanted to play with us. Not only were the kids curious as to why we were there, but also were their parents or guardians. A number of parents had asked us why we were helping and observing their children’s training session, so we explained to them that we were doing it for our Sociology and Anthropology class, which required us to do participant observation in an activity that all of us were unfamiliar of. All of the people there were very accepting as to why we were there, which made our task a lot easier. Insights gained from the Key Informant Before the training proper, we met up with Coach LA Tenorio, the head coach of the Method Basketball Academy 2019 Summer Camp. He then gave us several pieces of advice ​ in assisting the training session. Firstly, he gave us several reminders in regards to what to expect from the kids and the session itself. He told us to expect the kids to be hyper and energetic as they are usually quite talkative and easily distracted during the session. In regards to the session, he told also to expect the drills to be complex as none of us were familiar with basketball and the training session was already the last one for the participants.