Alex Compton

It’s easy to measure a season by wins and losses.

But years later, most of us won’t remember every score.

We’ll remember the friendships. The lessons. The moments our kids learned to persevere, support a teammate, handle disappointment, and keep showing up.

Sports can be a powerful teacher when we remember that the goal is bigger than the scoreboard.

If this resonates, save it for a future game day or share it with a fellow sports parent.

| Nash Racela

One of my favorite coaches in the Philippines was Nash Racelala.

I first played for Coach Nash in 2001 when the Manila MetroStars and Batangas Blades essentially merged under the Batangas name. We had a talented team with veterans from both organizations, and I was excited about what we could become.

What I wasn’t prepared for was how much Coach Nash was going to challenge my thinking.

For the previous three years, one of the best weapons in the league had been the pick-and-roll between Romel Adducul and me. We had won games with it, won a championship with it as one of our main threats, and built a lot of our offensive success around it. So when Coach Nash told us we weren’t going to run pick-and-rolls, I struggled with that.

I thought it was one of the best plays in the league. Looking back, that was probably one of the first lessons Coach Nash taught me. Good coaches often see things that players don’t. He had a plan for how he wanted to build our offense and how he wanted our team to play. Later in the season we would incorporate the pick-and-roll, but first he wanted us to learn something bigger.

Then came a playoff game in Olongapo.

The game was close and we had the ball with a chance to win. In my mind, this was exactly the kind of situation where I expected to have the ball in my hands. Coach Nash called timeout and drew up the play.

“Alex, we’re going to use you as a decoy.”

I remember having to bite my tongue.

Coach explained that we would run me off a staggered screen along the baseline. Everyone would anticipate the play and jump toward me. Once that happened, Tonyboy Espinosa would attack the basket.

We broke the huddle and ran the play.

Exactly what Coach Nash predicted happened.

As I came off the staggered screen, defenders collapsed toward me. Tonyboy drove straight to the rim and got a layup. We won the game.

That moment stayed with me.

One of the things I always appreciated about Coach Nash was that he never seemed to do things randomly. He was thoughtful. He was intelligent. He could clearly explain why he was doing what he was doing. Even when I disagreed, there was always a purpose behind it.

Over the years our paths crossed many times. He continued coaching me with the Batangas Blades and later the LBC Batangas Blades in the PBL. He coached at FEU, with the youth national team, and in the PBA. Eventually I found myself coaching against him as a head coach and later working alongside him with Gilas Pilipinas.

That is one of the great joys of basketball. Sometimes the player eventually gets the opportunity to work with the coach.

Coach Nash was someone I always enjoyed learning from and someone I genuinely enjoyed working with. He challenged me as a player, taught me lessons that extended beyond basketball, and earned my respect every step of the way.

Today he is the head coach of Adamson University, continuing to teach young men how to play the game the right way.

Coach, thank you for the lessons, the conversations, and the example.

I will always be cheering for you. 🇵🇭

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Filipinos will always feel like my people and every time I fly back to the Philippines, it feels like I am going home. This is — where I pay homage to the years I spent being with and building with Filipinos. 🇵🇭

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One of the very first people I met when I arrived in the Philippines in January of 1998 was .

Boss Louie was one of the owners of the Manila MetroStars, the team I would play for as a rookie. Looking back, I cannot overstate the impact he had on my perception of the Philippines and Filipino culture.

People say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Well, Boss Louie made an incredible one.

When I arrived, he and Tita Cynthia welcomed me into their home. And when I say welcomed me into their home, I mean exactly that. I lived with them for the first three months of my contract while my condo was being prepared.

As a foreigner who hadn’t lived in the Philippines since I was a baby, I could have felt completely out of place. Instead, I felt at home.

Boss Louie, Tita Cynthia, and his mother, whom we affectionately called Mama Muchi, treated me like family. They were warm, kind, generous, and hospitable in a way that left a lasting impression on me.

Boss Louie also happened to be one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He was quick-witted, always ready with a joke, and had a way of saying something outrageous with a perfectly straight face before finally breaking into a smile.

One of my favorite memories came in 1999 when we won the MBA championship. I remember how happy I was to see Boss Louie holding and hugging that trophy. I knew how much he and the other owners had invested in the team, and I was grateful we could share that moment together.

I don’t get to see him much these days now that I’m back in Wisconsin, but what he and Tita Cynthia did for me all those years ago will never be forgotten.

Love you, Boss Louie. Thank you for helping a young American kid fall in love with the Philippines. 🇵🇭

My last reel touched on how hard conversations can stay with young athletes for years.

This story is the deeper version of that.

At 20 years old, I heard a question from my coach as rejection. Decades later, I realized it was actually care and wisdom, even if I couldn’t fully see it at the time.

A reminder for all of us as parents and coaches: kids often hear through emotion before they hear through perspective.

You can swipe through here, and if you want the full story, the full article is up now on https://www.youth.inc/learn/all-i-heard-was-get-out

| Topex Robinson

Before he was Robinson leading De La Salle to championships, he was one of the most annoying defenders I ever played against.

I first played against Topex in the MBA when I was with the Batangas Blades and he was playing for Olongapo. He was a couple inches shorter than me, and I’m already short to begin with, but his heart was enormous. Everywhere I turned, he was there. Spin move, crossover, hesitation, didn’t matter. He was stuck to me the entire game.

He was quicker and more athletic than me, but what really separated him was his motor. He competed with a ferocity that you felt every possession.

I watched him go on to battle in the PBA the exact same way. I still remember one game when he came in during the second half and completely changed the game with his energy, defense, offensive rebounds, and hustle plays among the imports. I remember saying on air, “Topex Robinson is playing with the intensity of a velociraptor right now.”

Years later, we ended up coaching together at Alaska under Coach Luigi Trillo, first as co-assistants and later with Topex serving as one of my assistant coaches. One memory I’ll never forget was after we won the championship in 2013. While the team celebrated loudly in the next room, Topex and I just sat quietly in the locker room listening to the joy of the players and feeling so happy for them.

Soon after, he left for a lead assistant role with Phoenix. I was sad to see him go, but I knew he was ready for bigger responsibility. Eventually he became head coach there, and now he’s leading one of the most prestigious basketball programs in the Philippines at De La Salle.

What’s been really cool to watch is how the same energy and passion he played with has carried over into his leadership. The intense defender who never stopped competing has become a coach known for connecting with his players and bringing life to a program.

So happy for my friend and all that he’s accomplished.

Much respect always, Coach Topex. 🇵🇭