A tough guy with a tough challenge:
Jonas Terrado

By Myke Miravite, Ignite Academic Training

Terrado: Kapag nagkamali,wag
masyadong madiscourage

“Kung gusto niyo magtrabaho rin sa major dailies, kailangan tatagan niyo lang ang sarili ninyo dahil hindi ganun kadali ang ganoong trabaho. But the key there is you enjoy what you are doing.”

A tough challenge from a tough man, eh? Well, expect more challenges from Jonas Terrado, sports writer of the Manila Bulletin and web writer for various sports leagues come November.

The 24-year-old Terrado, the Swiss Army Knife of Philippine Sports Writing, will be one of the tough guys who will be speaking in the ground-breaking Adventurer In The Huddle: 1^st National Sports Writing Congress 2010 in front of 500 sports writers and around 300 school paper advisers.

A product of De La Salle University-Dasmarinas, Terrado was also a tough chap in the basketball court during his varsity years in high school. He also writes for UAAP, NCAA, PBA, PBL, and Baseball Philippines.

When asked about his thoughts on having this big opportunity to share to young writers the many tricks he hides under his sleeves, he said it was also a big challenge for his part but he will be very glad to talk with them. “Kaya ako pumayag [na mag-speak sa In The Huddle]siguro challenge na rin sa akin ‘yan at siyempre makapagbigay din ng opportunity to teach some skills sa mga bata.”

As a recognized personality in the field of sports writing, his advice for our young sports scribes to succeed has been brutally honest and simple: “I think the key lang dyan is magbasa. Just get ideas on how to write stories then try to pattern it [after them] tapos i-apply ‘yun dun sa style mo,” he said. “Isang key rin doon ay i-enjoy lang ang iyong ginagawa. When you enjoy sports writing, I think dun lalabas ang creativeness mo and lastly learn from mistakes. Kapag nagkamali,wag masyadong madiscourage.”

Terrado will be lecturing about the dos and don’ts of sports coverage, and at the same time, he will be offering our participants a glance of the real thing—working in a pressure cooker of writing for a major daily.

“They should not miss this dahil simple ways lang ito ng pagkokober ng game na minsan medyo natatake for granted [especially sa world of campus journalism],” he added.

He also shared with us the perks and fulfillment he gets from writing sports. “Siguro ‘yung best thing sa field na to ay nakakacover ka ng mga great sporting events like the UAAP at tsaka you get to meet and talk with some of the sports personalities,” said Terrado. “At higit sa lahat, ikaw yung nagiging storyteller ng mga games and events na nacocover mo.”

Terrado also writes for Nike Summer League and De La Salle University-Dasmarinas’ Heraldo Filipino.