Therese Gaston plays volleyball with a team that trains 12 times a week. The regimen starts at 5:45 a.m. till 8 a.m., after which the team members go to class, then resume training from 5 to 8 p.m.
And that’s all ordinary for Therese, an open spiker of the Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles.
Raised by a beauty queen mother and a former PBA player and now Games and Amusement Board commissioner father, Therese is endowed with strong aesthetics as well as athletic attributes.
Influence
She was born in Jakarta but raised in a modest home in Metro Manila. The 5-foot-9 looker has also played with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Girls’ Volleyball Team (GVT), champion in Season 76 of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
In her childhood, Therese’s father, Fritz Gaston, goaded her and her sister Pauline to engage in different sports. It was Fritz who strongly influenced them to take athletics seriously.
“He influenced us to be good players,” Therese recalls.
As an alumna of the UST GVT, she found that the transition from one school in high school to another school in college was not daunting.
Relentless support
“My teammates as well as some alumni of Ateneo have shown me relentless support from the moment I joined the team,” she says.
“I’m so grateful for that. It wasn’t so hard to adjust, since my father is also an alumnus of Ateneo and I’m thankful as well that my teammates welcomed me with open arms,” she adds.
But what’s more exciting was her quick release from UST. Usually, junior athletes transferring from a UAAP school to another UAAP school in college serve a two-year residency if they’re not given clearance from their high school.
“I wasn’t so sure if I would be released this year. It was so unclear even when the UAAP season was nearing,” she admits.
But the Ateneo freshman Humanities major made it to this year’s lineup.
“Thankfully and surprisingly, I was released and will be playing [with the Lady Eagles] this season,” she says.
Best part
The best part of being with the Lady Eagles is the way they treat each other. “We are a family. We train together, hang out, have dinner and travel together,” says Therese.
She adds that volleyball connects them to each other.
“Being a Lady Eagle is also a commitment, and I had to give up a lot of things and hobbies. But it’s OK because I love what I’m doing. And I’m doing it with the people I love,” she says.
She promises to work hard to contribute to the team. “By giving my full time and effort, I will help the team achieve our goals.”
Therese may be serious inside the court, but outside, she says she’s just the girl who chills at home.
She ventures into other things as well, like modeling. She has taken part in Philippine Fashion Week, along with sister Pauline.
Therese was crowned Miss UST High School in her senior year. It’s like she was following in the footsteps of her mother, Aurora Mandanas Gaston, who was Miss Asia Pacific in 1984.
Asked if she has any plans to become a beauty queen, too, she exclaims, “It’s a secret!”
Photography: Raymond Cauilan
Makeup: Chuchie Ledesma
Hair: Ethan David
Styling: Daryl Angelo Baybado
