Disappointment is a tough emotion to handle. But Creamline's Michele Gumabao knows how to get back up.
What if PVL athletes were pageant contestants?
Last week, OneSports.PH posed the question ahead of the Miss Universe pageant and quite a number of volleyball fans answered that new Chery Tiggo Crossover Ponggay Gaston would be a good fit.
"I love eating, mahirapan ako if ever man sumali ako!" Gaston told One Sports in reaction to the fans. "Pero sige guys, push niyo pa 'ko, baka sumali pa ko if walang age limit!"
"But I'm so touched that you guys want me to join. They want me to follow in the steps of Michele Gumabao, pero sa ngayon volleyball ang priority ko."
The Philippine pageant community was stunned to silence though last Sunday, January 15, when Celeste Cortesi failed to make it to the top 16 of the Miss Universe pageant. That ended the country's 12-year streak of semifinals appearances in the pageant, which was started by Venus Raj in 2010.
Creamline Cool Smashers' Michele Gumabao knows all too well what it's like to fall short.
"Our job is to encourage them, to just cheer them on." Gumabao told One Sports on Thursday. "What's done is done. There will always be things to improve on, things we could do better. But now that it's done, let's hope for the best career for her, a future for her. Let's just cheer her on because that's what she needs right now."
And if anyone knows anything about resiliency, it's Michele Gumabao.
In 2018, she won as Binibining Pilipinas Globe in 2018 and ended up in the top 15 of Miss Globe. She also joined the first edition of Miss Universe Philippines in 2020 and was hailed as second runner-up.
Her perseverance is also on display on the turf for the Creamline Cool Smashers, even as the squad failed to reach the 2022 Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Conference finals. It ended their seven-conference finals appearance streak, dating back to the 2018 Reinforced Conference.
"It's a big disappointment, definitely. Pwede kang umiyak, pwede kang ma-sad, you can get frustrated and mad at yourself," Gumabao said. "But there's no way but up, no way but to improve, to get better. Kami, we practice every single day. We train every single day to get better, to achieve our next goal, which is to win the next championship."
Creamline is looking to defend their Open Conference title, now called the All-Filipino Conference, which would start on February 4.
So to Celeste, to other pageant contestants, and to anyone who has stumbled in their path, Gumabao has these fighting words to share, "It's the same mindset, the mindset of an athlete just to train to get better. There will always be a lot more opportunities out there, a lot more goals you can set, a lot more dreams you can achieve."
"So 'di pa dito nagtatapos ang laban. Mahaba-haba pa yan."