Why Perpetual’s Joph Cleopas keeps coming back to coaching

Joph Cleopas has worn a lot of hats in the past — from working in TV sales and marketing to being a call center agent to being a gym instructor, he has done it all.

However, he has always found his way back to coaching.

That’s why when his alma mater University of Perpetual Help System DALTA called and asked him to take over the junior basketball team, Cleopas let go of everything and answered the call of duty.

“Sabi ko nga parang curse ‘to eh, hindi ko mabitawan eh. Gustong-gusto ko pa rin mag-coach kahit na may trabaho na ako na okay,” Cleopas, who revealed he was also qualified as a flight attendant like his wife, told GMA News Online last Sunday.

“Every time I go to work [lagi kong iniisip if] makakapag-coach pa ba ako? Tatamaan ba oras ko? So I think binigay talaga ni God ‘to sa akin.”

(It seems like a curse because I could not let go of this. I really wanted to coach even if I am thriving in another job. Every time i go to work, I would ask whether I could still coach or this will take away my time from it. I think God really gave me this.)

Cleopas, though, isn’t a new face in the coaching circle.

The 37-year-old Cleopas served as a strength and conditioning coach and an assistant coach to Jamike Jarin and Boyet Fernandez and was part of the three-peat championship teams that won the NCAA titles from 2016 to 2018.

Cleopas was also part of the University of Santo Tomas team that reached the UAAP finals in Season 82 under then head coach Aldin Ayo, which led to him landing a job at Converge that Ayo is currently handling.

He also had coaching stints in the province after having called the shots for University of Southern Philippines Foundation in CESAFI.

“Grabe itong nangyari na ito kasi when I came in, I just enjoyed it because I love to coach. I’m a strength and conditioning coach and at the same time, skills trainer so before pa lang talaga, coach na talaga ako,” Cleopas, who played for one year for Perpetual in 2005, added.

“I coach for passion, not for work.”

(I’ve been through a lot, I know when I came in, I just enjoyed it because I love to coach. I’m a strength and conditioning coach and at the same time, a skills trainer so I was really a coach then. I coach for passion, not for work.)

But his biggest break yet is with the Junior Altas.

Only in his first year as head coach, Perpetual has already achieved a feat no other version of the squad has done in the past.

The Junior Altas ended the NCAA Season 99 elimination round on top of everyone else with a stellar 8-1 win-loss card, with a narrow 72-71 loss to Mapua being the only dent in their record. They then avenged that loss when they pulled off a 96-91 victory against the Red Robins in the Final Four.

They are now pitted against no less than defending champion Colegio de San Juan de Letran in a best-of-three series in bid to deliver the school’s first basketball title either in juniors or seniors ranks.

“I feel so blessed because nagkataon na ‘yung ganito nangyari sa akin.”