By Alex Mino
For an individual to conquer Winter Sports despite being born in a tropical country surprises everyone, even his competitors.
Filipino snowboarder Adrian Tongko amazed Canadian-born snowboarders after landing a respectable fifth-place finish in the recently-concluded 2015 Canada Winter Games held in Prince George, British Columbia.
The 18-year old tallies 74.40 score to cement his spot in top ten of Slope- style finals among eighteen participants.
Tongko can’t believe he would go this far beating some homegrown athletes in the annual sporting event.
“They’re just surprised. They’re just shocked,” he says with a big grin in his face.
The North Vancouver-resident admitted his curiosity had a lot to do with it where he is currently enjoying this kind of sports discipline.
“I really want to experience what the game is all about, “says Tongko, who was born in Pasay City.
Quite an achievement for the 5-foot-10 lad who came here in Canada when he was nine years old, considering most of his opponents came from mountain families chasing their parents up and down the slopes from a very young age. His family is totally different.
He didn’t hit the slope until 10 years old when parents Robert and Christine together with brother Matt finally decided to try the sport Canadians loved most.
“It was tough at first, my butt hurts,” Tongko added.
Self-learning is one aspect you would admire with this youngster, who didn’t go to any class even for a single session.
“I kind of taught myself how to snowboard. I always went up with my friends,” Tongko said.
His perseverance paid off after landing a spot in the B.C Snowboard Development Team three years ago under the watchful eye of coach Dane Kaechele.
