Stephen Domingo: Family and Basketball

 

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” ~Desmond Tutu.

Your family is the very foundation beneath your feet that shelters and comforts you with ever-lasting unconditional love and compassion. Those who cherish and value this are the lucky ones in life since they’ve noticed the “gold” value of having a family. 2013 Small Forward Stephen Domingo is one of the few individuals who has taken the value of family time to heart, especially since he is the only child in his own family unit, “Since I’m the only child, family gatherings and functions are really important to me because most of the time I am with my parents but, being in family gatherings…it’s really fun.”  Even though family gatherings are important to Stephen, his family’s past and the marks left by his ancestors still hold a significant place in his heart, “The rosary my great aunt gave me was the last thing I received from her before she passed away. That rosary is special to me and especially since it was passed down for 4 generations and lives on through my family.”

The past provides Stephen with memories but, it is the present that guides him towards his quest of finding the best fitting school at the next level: “I’m just looking for a great atmosphere, great coach, great tradition of basketball, All those things combine… I will find a pretty good school for myself.” Hopefully, he will be able to find these great traits within the schools that have already given him offers: “Arizona, Cal, Georgetown, USC, UNLV, San Diego, San Diego State, Memphis, and the University of San Francisco.” Most of these schools are located on the west coast near his family (given) but, for Stephen, living on the east coast would not be a drastic change,” I took an unofficial to Georgetown, it was really fun, great atmosphere and it was nice to see a school and to take my unofficial visit. My mother is from the east coast so it was nice to see a school in a different field compared to the west coast.”

It’s possible that he might fly over to the east coast but, his sense of family is so strong, it is to the point where his own father has influenced him to pursue a particular undergraduate major: “I want to pursue a major in business or history, my father is a businessman so that kind of intrigues me.” When I look back at other basketball players who are not afraid to express the love they have for their family, one player in particular jumped out in my mind: Michael Gilchrist (who changed his name to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in order to honor his uncle and father). I thought it was great to see another example of a young man who really admires his family and is proud of where he came from. I asked Stephen about his thoughts on the name changing situation and he simply replied, ” I didn’t know about it, but it’s cool to honor your family. I would support it, I’m all for family.”

It’s quite amazing how articulate Stephen was when he was talking about his sense of family and his quest towards choosing a college. I went on to ask him how he would describe himself to others if he had to and his reply was on-point with my guess, ” I would say I’m an articulate person. I’m really out going and I love basketball but I like to stretch beyond it. I don’t really have one hobby outside of basketball. I enjoy spending time with friends and I use to write poetry. Most of the time, since basketball takes up so much of my time, I just chill. But, I’m a pretty well-rounded person, who enjoys spending time with family since I’m in the gym a lot.” Impressed by his taste in poetry, I asked him how he got involved with “the art of rhythmical composition”: ” I would do poetry for my English class since we had to do it. I started doing it more. I like using poetry as a way to get my feelings out. Basketball is pretty emotional and you can’t always get your feelings out during it.”

Stephen’s interest in poetry was not the only “surprise” that came out of this conversation. He also has two cousin’s that play soccer, Jalil Anibaba, a professional soccer player for the Chicago Fire and , who played soccer for UC Davis. Once upon a time Stephen shared a liking towards playing the “beautiful game” but due to his height, he decided to continue on another route, “I played soccer up until 8th grade. I use to play goalie. But, in high school…I mean I’m 6’6 ½”. I’m not really built for soccer anymore. So, during the same season, I committed myself to becoming a D1 and hopefully a professional basketball player. I couldn’t really do both sports at a high level.” Even though he couldn’t continue soccer, he still enjoys watching it. ” I do watch soccer. My favorite soccer team is Chelsea, probably because of Drogba. They score a lot of goals and are pretty flashy. I like how flashy they are and that type of soccer. I don’t really enjoy defensive type of game because it is kind of boring. Plus Chelsea has a lot of stars and they score a lot.” Soccer, Poetry, Family—this young man definitely sounds like a well-rounded player and person. I hope the college that he decides to attend can supply him with all of the resources that he needs in order to nourish his interests and skills. We wish you nothing but greatness in the following years in your high school career and your future college career.

-Erin Ashley

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video thanks to YayareasfinestTV