FILIPINOS’ early participation in Australian sport has not been fully documented, I don’t think. To my limited knowledge, the earliest record of Filipino sportsmen competing in Australia was documented in a thesis written by James Cook University academic Ann R Tapp in Townsville, Queensland.
Ms Tapp wrote about the arrival in Sydney of three Filipino professional boxers, Dencio ‘Olongapo Kid’ Cabanela, Francisco Flores, and Macario Villon on February 6, 1921.
Cabanela came as a triple Oriental boxing champion in the bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight divisions. But after capturing the hearts of Australian boxing aficinionados for the next five months, the Filipino died in a Melbourne ring on July 5, 1921.
The 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne saw Filipinos compete in basketball and other sports including boxing and swimming. But what comes to mind is the charismatic Felicisimo Ampon, the diminutive Filipino tennis player who thrilled the world of amateur tennis in his familiar long white trousers and shirt.
The Philippines’ basketball team at the Melbourne Olympics was led Carlos ‘The Big Difference’ Loyzaga, who returned to Sydney in 1984 as a migrant and became the official ‘tactician’ of the National Basketball League’s Sydney Kings in 1988. He went back to live in Manila in 2012.
What remains significant has been the participation in Australia of Filipino boxers, who haven’t stopped coming to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to campaign in the lighter divisions and winning national and Pacific titles.
In the late 1960s, Filipino migrants reportedly started organising basketball games at different school gyms in Sydney. Loosely organised, many of these games were interrupted by brawls, and in some cases police had to be called in to stop the melee.
The Filipino community became better organised in the 1980s, following the formation of the Philippine Australian Sports Club which conducted tournaments for basketball, softball, tennis, golf, and chess.
Independent sports clubs further sprouted over the years to cater for the growing number of players. Today, many more Filipino-Australians are participating not only in Filipino community-organised tournaments but also in the mainstream arena.
Australia has now produced Filipino-Austarlian elite players like Craig Wing, who has represented Australia in rugby league; Jason Day, who has been ranked among the top five in world golf; Jesse Diestro, sikaran martial artist who won the Over 35s International Sports Karate world championship; and Bevan Calvert, who captains the Australian handball team.
Yes indeed, we are feeling the Filipino presence in Australian sport.
Jaime K Pimentel
EDITOR
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