Ateneo de Manila University men’s basketball team head coach Tab Baldwin broke his silence five days after the deaths of his players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili during a team-building activity in Aurora province last Monday.
In a more than eight-minute video posted on the school’s official Facebook page on Friday night, the Kiwi-American mentor asked for forgiveness for the drowning incident that claimed the lives of the two student-athletes.
A wake is being held for Baterbonia at Ateneo de Davao University, while Adili’s family requested that his remains be brought home to Nigeria.
“I’m so deeply sorry. I’m so deeply sorry to not just the families, but everybody that feels let down, somehow betrayed,” Baldwin said.
“And I pray that we all find some pathway forward to come back to hope for the future, love for one another and forgiveness for those of us who failed and tried so desperately hard to reach a better outcome.”
Leave, advised by school
Baldwin had been silent for the past few days, as advised by the school, and is now on leave amid the ongoing investigation.
The Blue Eagles went to Hermanos Leisure Farm and Surf Camp in Barangay Libis in the town of Dipaculao, for their traditional team-building.
The players, including the 21-year-old Nigerian Adili and the new recruit, 19-year-old Baterbonia, were doing an activity in shallow waters but were caught by strong rip currents toward the deeper part of the sea.
While the rest made it to shore, the two drowned.
“On that fateful day when we sent the players out for a routine training run in what we thought was shallow water, up to the moment when we realized that whatever had happened, they were in dangerous water. And we did everything that we could as coaches, as people responsible for that situation, the players themselves did everything they could to ensure that everybody arrived back on shore safely. And then we realized that we hadn’t accomplished that,” Baldwin said.
“I failed as a leader. I felt I had failed as a coach. I certainly felt like I had failed as a friend to Divine and Rene.”
