YVES Dignadice is in town as his daughter Sophia is set to play for Gilas Pilipinas Women in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
Dignadice attended Friday’s send-off for SEA Games-bound athletes at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum to accompany her daughter to Manila as she makes her debut for the national team in the biennial showcase.
Incidentally, Yves said that he too played in the SEA Games four decades earlier in 1985 in Bangkok, as reminded to him by Allan Caidic, his former teammate during their Northern Consolidated days with the national squad.
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“’Yan nga pinag-usapan namin ni Allan,” said Dignadice in a chat with SPIN.ph. “Sabi ni Allan Caidic sa akin, ‘Yves, naalala mo ba na our last SEA Games was in Bangkok.’ So si Sophia, first game niya na sa SEA Games, sa Bangkok din.
"Sabi ko, naisip pa niya ‘yun ah.”
After his stint with NCC, Dignadice played for San Miguel from 1986 to 1998 before finishing his career in 2000 with Barangay Ginebra. The pride of Jaro, Iloilo also played for multiple national teams, the last being the all-pro team of PBA players that Robert Jaworski led to the 1990 Asian Games silver medal in Beijing.
Yves, who has been based in Los Angeles for the last 25 years, said he is proud that his daughter will be playing for the national team just like him.
Dignadice, 60, said he also brought along a few more players who he had trained with Sarah Hyne.
“Anak ko si Sophia Dignadice, kasama niya si Sarah Hyne, taga-San Diego pero sila na ‘yung mga players ko sa States,” said Dignadice.
“I’m coaching them since they were eight years old and then now, our goal is get them a college scholarship, play for the national team, then I’m with Pat (Aquino), and started doing this,” said Dignadice.
Unfortunately for Dignadice, he won’t be able to join his daughter in Bangkok as he is set to go back to the US on December 14. Still, he looks forward to supporting his daughter from afar.
“I’m excited. I’m proud of Sophia and the team, all the Filipinos that came from me,” said Dignadice.
It’s been awhile since Dignadice returned to the country, recalling his last trip to the Philippines was in 2017 in Naga. But he made sure to reconnect with a couple of his former NCC and San Miguel teammates during this visit.
“Magkakasama nga kami nung isang araw – Hector (Calma), Allan. Sila talaga mga kasama ko palagi. It’s so sad that Samboy (Lim) passed away. Hanggang ngayon, magkakasama kami. Si Alvin Teng, Elmer Reyes,” said Dignadice.
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