Entering the off-season, Ben “Benthings” Maglaque was seeking a coach to help his team rise from consecutive 8th-place finishes in the MPL Philippines, but destiny had other plans.
Despite TNC Pro Team’s lengthy coach selection process, during which seven applicants vied for the position, ultimately, none chose to sign with the team.
“May pitong nagtryout sa amin na coach. Yung pitong yun, naging dalawa lang kasi kinuha ng ibang team yung lima,” shared Benthings in an exclusive interview with Tiebreaker Times.
“Dito pinag-pray ko na, ‘Kung wala pa ring makuha dito, parang God feeling ko ako na to.’
“Yung dalawa, nakipag-usap na, okay na talaga. Pirma na lang. Tapos nainterview ko na rin kung paano ko siya magiging coach. Tapos kinabukasan, wala. Kaya ayun, nag-decide na ako na ako na magiging coach. Feeling ko kaya ko naman,” he added.
Benthings leaned on his faith to discern his true calling.
“Yung unang-unang decision ko nun, 70-30. Seventy-percent gusto ko pa talaga maglaro. Ayoko kasi sa pakiramdam na umalis ako sa pagiging player na top eight lang ako, last place. Parang masama sa pakiramdam ko yun. Pero lumuwag sa pakiramdam nung pinag-pray ko na siya. Kasi baka para dito talaga ako. Parang gusto ni God dito ako,” recalled the TNC coach, who is the former star of Cignal Ultra.
Fast forward to Week 2 of the MPL Philippines, Benthings finally achieved a breakthrough win for TNC.
It was a welcome development for a team known for losing streaks over the past seasons and only scoring wins at the tail end of the regular season.
“Sobrang sarap sa pakiramdam na manalo. Kaso, parang nanonood ako, exciting siya na nakakakaba eh,” he said.
“Yung frustration ko sa practice, na-release. Happy lang. Di pa nga siya nagsisink in sakin ngayon eh.”
The sacrifices made by Benthings and his squad were all worth it in the end.
“Nagde-day off kami, sobrang saglit lang, mga 12 hours. Minsan, sacrifice na rin yung day-off pag alam namin na ampangit ng performance namin.”
Finally mentoring a team that took down one of the league’s top dogs, Blacklist International, Benthings hopes to finally repay the support that he felt from the TNC supporters who continued to cheer them on despite their repeated losing records.
“Minsan pag nagme-meditate ako, sabay naiisip ko yung future, sobrang sarap isigaw ‘Phoenix fam, playoffs na tayo. Phoenix fam, champion na tayo.’ Dumadating sa point na mapapaluha ka talaga pag naiisip ko yung support ng Phoenix fam na tuloy-tuloy,” continued Benthings.
“Halos hindi na namin deserve kasi ilang season na top eight lang. Kumbaga, sino pa ba yung susuporta sa team na talunan di ba? Sobrang saya kaya sobrang thankful kami sa Phoenix fam.”
Looks like the Phoenix fam will have more reasons to support Benthings and the rest of TNC Pro Team this season.
