GROWING up, Sisi Rondina had nothing but a dream.
From the moment she first hit a volleyball in the suburbs of Compostela in Cebu, it dawned on her that she finally had the chance to give everything and more for her tireless parents.
She’d emerge as a diamond in the rough in the 2013 Palarong Pambansa where she was named the women’s volleyball tournament’s best attacker for Central Visayas.
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It was a performance that caught the eye of a certain school in España. That one-way ticket to pursue her sporting dreams in Manila almost didn’t work out when her dad Arnold, who worked as a fisherman and a driver, had second thoughts on letting their daughter take flight in the unknowns of the metro.
“Nung nag-desisyon yung tatay ko na mag-UST ako, kasi sobrang hirap nu’n eh. Dumaan pa kay Papa. Ang hirap din kasi kailangan magpaalam talaga ng personal,” Rondina shared with SPIN.ph.
“Pero the time na nagpaalam yung coach ko sa Papa ko and he agreed na sa UST ako mag-aaral, wala akong ibang ginawa at ginusto kundi tulungan and siyempre, maging proud yung parents ko.
“Hindi talaga kaya sa sitwasyon namin noon yung makapag-college.”
Building a new beginning
Come the tail-end of her decorated UAAP career, Rondina used most of her savings to buy her parents a house back home in Cebu. Such financial constraints almost cost them the chance to watch Sisi’s first and only UAAP finals run back in Season 80.
Through the collective efforts of the Thomasian community, Arnold and Alona — Sisi’s mother who is a dressmaker — were able to make the trip to Manila.
As she rode into the sunset of her college career, she’d still make it her life’s mission to lift her parents up from the grueling depths of poverty.
“Nu’ng (nalaman kong) makaka-graduate na ako sa UST, wala akong ibang inisip kundi tumulong na talaga sa parents ko. Sobrang hirap talaga ng napagdaanan namin. As in proud talaga ako nu’n,” Rondina said.
“Honestly talaga, itong nangyayari sa akin, sobrang grateful lang talaga at blessed ako na isa ko sa mga nabigyan ng ganitong talento na inalagaan ko lang din talaga para ma-proud yung parents ko.
“Yung mga natatanggap namin dito, sobrang bihira lang din kaya siyempre, sinulit ko at hindi ko na pinakawalan pa.”
Fueled by pain, powered by heart
Today, Rondina has scaled heights beyond her wildest dreams — literally and figuratively — as one of Philippine volleyball’s most astounding high-flyers.
At 5-foot-6, her lowly stature fueled her explosive ascent as a living example of how one’s heart for the game will always weigh more than mere height.
But deep within, her heart doesn’t just beat for volleyball. It beats for Arnold, Alona, her two sisters and every single person who believed in her when their difficult living conditions could’ve given her more reasons to doubt.
“Dati kasi, kung aalalahanin ko, sobrang sakit, naiiyak ako, pero nagpapasalamat din ako kasi yun yung nag-shape sa’kin sa kung ano ako ngayon,” Rondina bared.
“Lagi lang kasing nire-remind ni Papa sa akin na huwag talagang lumimot sa mga taong tumulong sa’yo. Lahat nadadaan sa pasensya, sa tiyaga. ‘Wag na ‘wag kalimutan yung Panginoon na laging nandyan para gabayan tayo.”
Fight to take flight
With Alas Pilipinas and Choco Mucho, and even all the way back to UST and in the grassroots back home in Cebu, Rondina still carries the single-most important lesson her dad would always tell him back when they barely had anything to eat and a roof to live underneath of.
Arnold’s fighting mantra for Sisi and the rest of their once poverty-stricken family? When the going gets tough, one must not look too far ahead for there will always be a way to get going again.
“Tinuruan ako ni Papa na huwag pangunahan yung mga pangyayari kasi lahat may rason and ipagdasal lang kasi lahat ibibigay hangga’t tinatrabaho ko,” Rondina said.
“Hindi ko rin alam na ganito pala yung bagsak ng career ko. Lagi ko lang pinagdasal na sana makatulong ako sa pamilya ko, pero sobra-sobra yung bigay ni Lord. Kaya ito, aalagaan ko ito hangga’t kaya.
“Playing the sport that I love talaga is para sa pamilya ko rin naman. Sa lahat ng meron ako ngayon, para sa pamilya ko ‘to.”
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