LOVE him or hate him, this battle-scarred coach with the once-shaggy long hair has done his job well in dealing with youthful kids who like to learn a basketball trick or two from the master during his intense, no-nonsense training camp.
While Coach Domeng Unson’s polarizing stature could be traced to the insecurity by people who are plying the same trade, his style of basketball training is believed to be popular to his many young prospects. They undergo strength-and-conditioning drills designed to make them solid-as-a-rock, the military-regimented physical activities, and the torturous “Blackout” workouts that can break your spirit if one were not made of sterner stuff.
Young participants in the Coach D Elite Basketball at the Xavier School courts – and now at the PUP-San Juan gym – enjoy the vigorous two-hour training sessions in the belief Unson’s program will bolster their aspirations to become better basketball athletes at the school level and, maybe, even further down the road.
A camp participant might feel sore or a bit numb from pain after several sessions under Unson’s ultra-tough regiment. Yet, it also makes him tough-as-a-nail when push comes to shove.
The bottom line: “What does not kill you makes you stronger.”
The Coach D Elite Basketball Camp not only teaches participants on how to improve their basketball skills but also enhances character-building in that it inculcates in them the value of sportsmanship, discipline and accountability.
Domeng currently is an assistant coach with the University of the East Red Warriors team that plays in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. He once worked with the coaching staff of former professional player Loreto (Ato) Tolentino at various schools, including the University of Manila, Rizal Technological University and Philippine Christian University.
In the past, Unson and current Warriors’ head of basketball operations Lawrence Chongson also have combined forces with the Tanduay entry in the Philippine Basketball Association Development League.
Interestingly, the Coach D Elite Basketball Camp had an austere beginning.
Established in 2008, the camp’s first-ever session was held at the rooftop of a ragtag building in Escolta, Manila (it was destroyed by a fire in 2017) with only four kids in attendance.
Since then, the camp has grown so much to include 35 participants at a given time.
Domeng’s relentless effort to instruct the young student athletes the art of basketball-playing and stress the importance of character formation in their development as a person has paid dividends.
Among the products he has nurtured since their teenaged years include the Kok brothers Kenric and Kevin; one-time Saint Jude Catholic School hotshot Renzel Yongco, who will be suiting up for the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in the UAAP in July 2019 following his transfer from De La Salle University; all-time Xavier School greats Jeric and Jeron Teng, who, after attending UST and La Salle, respectively, are the first set of brothers in professional Philippine Basketball Association history with a PBA-pedigreed dad in The Robocop Alvin; and another XS Golden Stallion and Adamson University product Harold Ng, who, last December 23, was selected in the second round of the 2018 PBA draft by Rain or Shine.
They belonged to the original batch and have since made a name for themselves.
In the current batch of the Coach D Elite Basketball Camp are kids from the new generation with ages ranging from 10 to 14. One kiddie who showed up in camp three years ago was Andrew Bryan Choa. Aged eight at the time, Choa already stood five feet tall and owned a foot size of a grown-up man.
Then there’s also brothers Ian and Irus Chua. Both have played in local age-group leagues, including the Tapang at Malasakit national cage competitions last March.
Ian turned 13 last September and Irus marked his 11th birthday last March.
And some of the current camp participants will be sojourning to Malaysia in late May next year to play a series of exhibition games against their 12-Under (or even a bit older) Malaysian counterparts in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
This is the second of such international tours to Malaysia for the youthful Coach D Elite campers, who will have the golden opportunity not only to test their mettle against foreign competition but also interact with their Southeast Asian neighbors through a cultural exchange.
The 12-Under kids who have committed to the Malaysia 2019 Tour are 11-year-old, size 13-footed Choa, Heintnier Martin Tan, Irus Chua, Jihwan Kim, Rich Mathieu Tong, Drake Marcus Yaomuntek, Shaun Jordan Lao Haw, Jeff Kramer L. Sy, Jet Cooper Kang Leong, Raymond Allen Te, Harold Denziel Dee, William Max Fredrik Cheng, Hans Davidson Go, Sean Kendric Dy Garcia, Evo Chace O. Santiago, and Kimmon Yeung.
The Coach D Elite Basketball Camp has a Facebook account of the same name with 42,800 followers.