UAAP: Searching for Soc Rivera

Once upon a time, Soc Rivera was slated to become the next Arwind Santos. The next Benjie Paras. The next Jervy Cruz. After what should be a successful collegiate career, his supposed next step was to take the PBA by storm and play regularly under bright lights.

Instead, despite being just 23, Soc Rivera is playing on a concrete court, after waiting for an hour for farmers to clear their harvest from it. He’s dominating, but only because the guys he’s playing against stand no taller than 5’9”. Once a star in the making, Soc Rivera became a footnote because of the rule he spawned.

It was because of that footnote that I sought him out. "The Soc Rivera rule," created allegedly in response to Rivera's actions, made it such that a student-athlete going from a UAAP high school to a different UAAP university, needed to secure clearance from the former, in order to play immediately for the latter, or be forced to sit out a year.

Since then, the rule has found its way back into conversations, after it had been modified to a solid two year sit-out period, with no option for the residency to be waived.

Soc Rivera was once seen as a future UAAP star. With a stellar two-year stint with the FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws, Soc was supposed to move up to the seniors division and be a part of a championship team in the future for FEU.

But things did not quite pan out the way most expected it to. Soc opted to go to UP for college, and the UAAP board responded by creating the rule that bares his namesake, although he himself was not affected by it.

The 6'5" center-forward played a single season for the UP, and then fell off the face of the earth.

Soc lives in a country where basketball is a religion. It just didn’t make sense for a high-profile prospect like him to disappear, with very few people knowing what actually happened to him. For years, the Soc Rivera rule kept his name alive, but now, like the player’s career, the rule has become obsolete.

Most basketball writers didn't have a clue where he was. Some told me he might still be with UST. Another said he might be with Adamson. Finally, I was able to get in touch with former FEU Tamaraw Jens Knuttel, who still had Soc’s number.

Talking to Soc for the first time felt like I was talking to the Loch Ness monster.
 

The meeting

Soc Rivera is looking into jobs overseas. It won’t be as an import in foreign leagues, not even as a reinforcement for an Asean Basketball League squad like Jai Reyes and Marvin Cruz. Instead, Soc was applying for a hotel job. However, two days before we were supposed to meet, he told me the interview was canceled, which meant that if I were to talk to him, I would have to travel to Barangay Concepcion in Lubao, Pampanga.

Pampanga is a province rich with basketball talent. Legends like Ato Agustin and Dennis Espino came from this Central Luzon province. Current PBA stars Arwind Santos, Jayson Castro, Japeth Aguilar, and Calvin Abueva are all proud to call themselves Kapampangans. Amateurs like Ian Sangalang and Ronald Pascual are primed to continue the rich tradition of Kapampangans in the PBA.

Soc Rivera was supposed to be one of those guys.

It was a confused Thursday morning. The sky was a weird color, unsure if it was to give rain or a healthy dose of sunshine. But as I traveled through the North Luzon Expressway, the sky made up its mind and decided that it would be scorching hot.

After I reached Barangay Concepcion a couple of hours I left Manila, I sent Soc a message. He replied and said he would meet me where I parked.

A few minutes later, a man in a bright yellow and green Brazil shirt riding a motorcycle waved at me. At first glance, I refused to believe that I was looking at THE Soc Rivera. I was expecting to see this beanpole of a man with a cleanly shaved head. My last memory of Soc was back when he was still wearing a UP uniform and I expected him to look at least similar to that guy.

What approached me was not a kid. His hair was grown out and colored with a light shade of brown. He had gained a bit of weight since his playing days. He seemed darker and he looked older, much older. Scars surrounded his right eye, which drew my attention for a good five seconds, before he finally motioned for me to follow him.

The regular sized motorcycle looked more like a kid’s toy underneath the 6’5" player. He turned right from the highway and I followed, trying to keep up with his pace. We passed rice fields and houses, moved past bikes and tricycles.

Soc finally stopped in a house in front of a vast rice field. The house had bamboo fences and roosters roamed the den.  We walked past a group of people playing cards, into a house where we sat in wooden chairs.

Up until that time, it was hard for me to comprehend that this guy was actually Soc Rivera because he looked nothing like his version from six years ago. I scanned the room and saw on the top shelf of their TV rack a familiar sight. Gathering dust was a plaque that read UAAP Mythical Five. Basketball. Junior’s Division.
 

The transfer

“Masyadong marami yung players ng FEU noon lalo na sa posisyon ko,” Soc said. “Naisip ko, kung lilipat ako sa UP, may playing time agad. Bata kami lahat at magagaling naman kami kaya akala ko kami yung magbabago sa basketball ng UP.” He was named as the next Arwind Santos, the long and lanky forward with good touch, but he decided being the next Benjie Paras was more appealing.

Even if they lost their first couple of games, things looked promising for the UP Maroons. Their early struggles were charged to the fact that they were composed of mostly rookies. But when the losses mounted, the painful reality dawned on Soc.

“Ang sipag kong magtrabaho noon. Hindi mo ako kayang pagurin,” Soc said. “Pero nasiraan talaga ako ng loob nung nag 0-14 kami. Nawalan ako ng gana.”

The UP basketball program needed an overhaul, and a part of that was replacing their head coach. “Nagdalawang isip ako nung umalis si coach Joe Lipa kasi siya talaga yung nag-recruit sa akin,” he said. “Tapos nung nabalitaan ko na bumubuo ng team sa San Sebastian na maraming Kapampangan, naisip kong lumipat.”
 

He only spent a semester in San Sebastian as he quickly figured out there was no place for him in the line-up.

Soc packed up his bags and moved to España. After establishing residency, he was supposed to play for the UST Growling Tigers in 2010. It was the perfect situation for him. Back then, the Tigers only had Chris Camus as their big man, which meant Soc will get a lot of time on the floor. In the preseason, Soc started alongside Camus, Jeric Fortuna, Jeric Teng, and Clark Bautista to form a dangerous five because they could all shoot.

“Gusto ko talaga bumalik yung dating kundisyon ko kaya nag extra work ako sa UST,” Soc said. “Ang mga ka-dorm ko kasi sa track and field kaya pag gumigising sila ng maaga, ginigising na rin nila ako. Shot-put yung training ko noon kaya pag-basketball na, parang ang gaan ng bola.”

After redshirting a year with UST, Soc was finally ready to play. During the summer break, he was invited to a 21-and-under league in Aklan. He helped his team win the championship, but tragedy struck after their celebration. Soc headed home riding a motorcycle when a kid suddenly crossed the street. He steered right to avoid hitting the kid which caused him to crash. It was a bloody accident with his right eye taking most of the damage.

The back-to-back operations he had in Aklan and in Pampanga saved his sight but left scars all over his eye. The silver lining was that he did not break any bones, which allowed him to head back onto the court after the wounds healed.
 

The letdown

Soc looked genuinely happy when he talked about his experience with UST. He was enjoying basketball again and he was out to cash in on this second opportunity. He stood up and opened a cabinet. Under a box containing various basketball awards, he showed me a newspaper cutout that had a picture of the Growling Tigers. He wore a blue jersey and stood right beside UST coach Pido Jarencio.

“Gusto ko sa UST kasi magaling si coach Pido. Di ka lang talaga puwedeng matakot pag sinigawan ka niya,” Soc said.  “Kahit mukhang inaatake na siya sa kakasigaw at kahit lumalabas na yung ugat niya sa leeg, dapat di mo papakitang natatakot ka. Kahit pangit yung laro mo, basta pakita mo yung tapang, ikaw pa yung a-apiran niya.”

He thought he was in the perfect situation, but just when he expected to restart his career, Rivera was floored by some bad news. “Kulang daw yung papers na sinubmit ko,” Soc said. “Masyado nang malapit sa season kaya wala na akong oras para makumpleto.”

Instead of being patient, completing his papers, and sitting out another year, Soc decided to move on yet again. This time, he joined the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals. As if on cue, another incident prevented Soc from playing. One of his friends on the team had a scuffle with their Malaysian import. Even if he wasn’t a part of the fight, Soc was kicked out of the school because he was in the room when it happened.

Frustrated, confused, and near his breaking point, Soc reunited with his FEU-FERN coach at the Technological Institute of the Philippines. One last try. One last push. Soc knew that he was far from being in game shape, so he challenged himself and rededicated his life to basketball.

“Bago mag-start practice naming sa TIP, nagsh-shooting na ako,” Soc recalled. “Pagkatapos nun, three hours na practice at scrimmage.” After practice, Soc would work with one of the assistant coaches to push himself to game shape, which usually meant an hour of running and another hour of various exercises.

While we were talking about his last stop in his five-college tour, Soc’s mother walked in with two glasses of halo-halo. The ice was already partially melting because of the extreme heat outside. On a day such as this one about a year ago, Soc met the unlikely end of his collegiate career.

“Sobrang init sa gym namin tapos naubusan na kami ng tubig,” he shared. “Nung malapit nang matapos training namin, sumakit bigla yung ulo ko. Di ko rin maramdaman yung kamay ko, parang manhid na.” After asking to be excused, Soc ran to the comfort room where he threw up. It got so bad that he was rushed to the hospital.

“Bago daw ako makapaglaro ulit, kailangan kong magpa-MRI,” he said. An MRI would cost 22,000 pesos, an amount that Soc and his family didn’t have. They asked for help from the school, they told him they couldn’t do anything because he wasn’t officially enrolled yet, so he wasn’t technically their athlete, even if he was already representing the school in different leagues.

“Sinabi ko na lang sa kanila na kung wala silang budget para tulungan ako, maiintindihan ko, uuwi na lang ako,” Soc lamented. “Wala naman akong magagawa e.”

After trips to UP, San Sebastian, UST, EAC, and TIP, and after taking courses in Physical Education, Management, and Education, Soc Rivera went back home defeated. Now, most of his waking hours are spent at home taking care of roosters, looking for jobs, or daydreaming of what could have been.

 

The regret

Soc would sometimes find his way back into his old high school while playing for different commercial leagues. “Pag bumibisita ako dun, sinasabi sa mga current players na dati akong player kaya nirerespeto naman nila ako,” Soc said. “Yung isa nga sa kanila binigyan pa ako ng sapatos, yung pinanglalaro ko ngayon.”

Those trips to FEU-FERN must have been cruel for Soc. This place witnessed the apex of Soc’s career. Now, it’ll have to witness Soc while he’s at rock bottom. Those trips remind him of what he had, and  also taunt him with glimpses of what could have been.

“Mas napaganda siguro yung career ko kung di na ako umalis sa FEU,” Soc admitted. “Magaling talaga sila mag-develop ng players. Nagkamali siguro ako na playing time agad sa UP ang inisip ko.”

Soc Rivera took the last spoonful of his halo-halo and stared blankly at the wall. “Baka ako yung nasa lugar ni Aldrech Ramos ngayon.”

He knows it is too late for him. He can’t go back and patch things up with FEU anymore. But at this moment, he wants one person in particular to learn from his mistakes.

 

The next

“Isipin mong mabuti,” is Soc’s advice for Jerie Pingoy, FEU's bluechip rookie who is expected to transfer to Ateneo. “Sa two years na yun, di mo alam kung anong mangyayari sayo. Puwedeng mainjure ka o magkakasakit ka o di magdedevelop yung laro mo.”

Soc knows this because he’s speaking from experience. His career went nowhere by moving away from FEU. He didn’t even sit out a year. Now all athletes switching schools, starting with Pingoy, will need to sit out two.

“Bakit di mo pa i-grab yung opportunity sa FEU di ba?” Soc said. “Maganda naman yung record nila sa pag-develop ng players kaya siguradong gagaling ka naman dun.”

At about 4 pm, Soc walked out of their house to play ball. Because their house is on the innermost part of the street, it was his duty, every single day, to call out his neighbors on his way to the court and invite anyone who’d want to play ball.

As Soc and two of his friends walked to the court, they were disappointed at the sight of palay scattered on the concrete floor. In what seems to be ages ago, Soc only played under the bright lights of high-stakes basketball. Now, he can only play pick-up games, and he needs to wait for the farmers to bag their harvest and take it out of the court before he does.

Move on. He has no other choice. Pretend it was all just a dream, a good dream, but a finished dream. There’s no other course but to wake up, as life will not treat him differently because he could have been a really good basketball player.

A bunch of kids walked to the court just as the last sacks of palay were carted out. Most of them were below 5’6". The 6’5" player called them bulilits, but right now they will have to do as opponents. Here, on Barangay Concepcion’s basketball court, Soc is still a star. He’s still 6’5" and still a threat, specially for those pustahan games against visiting players from other barangays. This was not the glory that he imagined, but like his bulilit opponents, this will have to do.
 

As the day drew to a close, Soc stayed on the court playing pick-up game after pick-up game. When the other guys would stop for a breather, he’ll ask them to make it quick so they can play on.

“Bilisan yu. Sayang ing aldo,” he’d tell them, meaning “be quick, the sun’s starting to set.” Soc tried to milk every second of that afternoon even as the sky turned red. He held on to the dwindling sunlight, trying to delay it by playing faster.

Soc knows that after the sun sets, it’s time to go back to being just plain old Soc Rivera. The security basketball blanketed him with would be gone as soon as the sun went down. He’ll be back to being a regular guy again, not the dominant basketball player whom no one can match up with. Not the future PBA player or the next big thing from Pampanga, he’ll be back to being Soc Rivera, son and brother, to Soc Rivera, the job hunter.

It’s a difficult task, this giving up of a dream. Playing basketball professionally was all Soc ever wanted to do, but because of the situation he is in right now, he’ll have to do the more responsible thing. Accept defeat and move on.

Soc Rivera’s career was built on his choices. Move from FEU-FERN to UP. Leave UP for San Sebastian. Pass up on a golden opportunity with UST. Now, at what sadly is the twilight of his basketball career at the very young age of 23, he needs to make another big decision yet again.

“E ke pa sa buring aryan,” Soc said just before we parted. “I don’t want to end it yet.” - RAF/AMD, GMA News