BY GWEN BERGADO
LONG before answering the call in reviving the San Sebastian Staglets’ proud program, Sanlea Penaverde has already been stepping up to the call of duty in a completely different job altogether.
While kids at age 12 were still playing, studying, or developing their interests, Penaverde was already hard at work, and it’s something that most men twice or thrice his age wouldn’t even think of doing.
Embalming corpses.
That’s right. Before becoming the Staglets’ go-to guy, he was dishing out assists to his family’s 50-year old funeral business in Camarines Sur, and yes, he was hands on when it comes to helping out.
“Bilang anak at apo ng isang embalsamador, bukal sa loob ko po tumulong,” Penaverde told Spin.ph.
”Ang pagtulong po na ginagawa ko sa pag-embalsamo ay pag-alis ng dugo at paglagay ng formalin sa katawan,” he continued. “At pagkatapos, pagligo at pagdamit at tsaka paglagay na sa coffin.”
It’s something that may be foreign to most people, especially for athletes, but he’s always been comfortable at handling it as he remembers the very words that his family has engrained in him.
“Wag matakot sa patay at wag pandirihan.”
Courage knows no boundaries for Sanlea
It might be a stretch to some, but the 19-year-old has applied all those learnings from embalming corpses in the basketball court.
His fearlessness, for one, stems from all those times staring at dead bodies and working on it and he can certainly see parallels from what he used to back then, to what he’s doing now.
“Parang basketball lang din naman ‘yan kapag pinangunahan mo ng takot, di ka makakalaro nang maayos at hindi mo magagawa kung ano yung gusto mo mangyari,” Penaverde stated.
It was that fearless attitude that got the attention of Staglets coach Juan Miguel Martin when he was representing the Naga College Foundation at the Bicol Universities and Colleges Athletic League (BUCAL).
“Una niya [Coach Martin] po akong nakita sa FB live po sa BUCAL po sa Naga City po isa po kasing sikat na liga po sa amin sa CamSur. Doon nya po ako nakita at doon niya po ako parang nagustuhan,” the 19-year-old said.
“Sobrang thankful po ako na nabigyan nya po ng chance yung nag-iisang maliit na bata lang na nangangarap na makapaglaro sa malalaking liga.”
And from then on, the rest is history.
Now, Penaverde is strutting his wares as one of the best players in the NCAA Season 100 tournament, with averages of 22.5 points per game (second best in the league), 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.8 steals in six games for the Staglets.
This includes a monster outing against Lyceum where he went a steal shy of a triple double with 37 points alongside 10 rebounds, nine steals, and six assists.
After dealing with the dead courageously as a kid, it’s safe to say that this young stud’s career is so full of life now, and it's bound to get livelier moving forward.
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