Beleaguered former University of Santo Tomas (UST) men’s basketball head coach Aldin Ayo said he intends to appeal the indefinite ban imposed against him by the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
The UAAP declared the indefinite ban on Ayo on Wednesday, preventing him from participating in all UAAP-sanctioned activities, citing that the former Growling Tigers head coach endangered the health and well-being of his wards when he organized an unauthorized training camp in Sorsogon in mid-June while the whole country was in lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I deeply feel that the indefinite ban imposed by the UAAP board against me is not appropriate under the circumstances. I will seek a reconsideration of such sanction,” Ayo said in a statement sent to the media late Friday night.
Ayo, who resigned from his post as UST men’s basketball head coach said he is “humbled” by the experience and is looking forward to coaching again.
“I have realized that no matter how driven and well-meaning you want to be, things just mess up. It gets you humbled, humiliated even, and we learn to painfully accept to just let things be,” said Ayo, a champion coach both in the UAAP and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
“However, to quote a Scottish proverb: ‘I am wounded, but not slain. So, lay me low to bleed awhile, then I shall rise…’ to coach again,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sherwin Concepcion, one of Ayo’s former wards, defended his former coach against his critics.
“Lahat naman tayo nagkakamali, ‘di ba? Kahit ganun ang nangyari hindi pa rin mawawala ‘yung respeto ko sa kanya (All of us commit mistakes, right? My respect for him remains despite what happened),” Concepcion, 23, told The Manila Times in a phone interview.
The UAAP Board of Managing Directors, according to Dean Francisco Diaz, is yet to receive Ayo’s appeal.