Sports in the family
The Wuthrich family
Expose your family to sports and be supportive of their endeavors in this field. If you do this, you'll end up with a family that embraces sports, the value of fair play, competition, discipline, fitness and good health.
This writer had the pleasure of meeting such a sports-inclined family --- the Wuthriches. Get to know more about them in this feature.
BERNARDITA 'BERN' WUTHRICH
Those who study swimming under the Amigo Hotel Swim Club knows who she is. A charming lady who is endowed with a swimmer's lithe body, Bern has encouraged her children to get into sports. "We did just about everything like sailing, skim boarding, kayaking, taekwondo, karatedo, Frisbee, fishing, rock climbing and swimming, among others."
Bern and her students
She was also a varsity player in basketball in Assumption Iloilo during her high school years and revealed that her husband Wilfredo used to be a football player in the University of San Agustin and that he is very supportive of his wife and children's sports endeavors.
Bern stated that when she was a kid, she already loved swimming but developed a fear for water after she almost drowned. She finally got over this at nine years old.
"Swimming is very therapeutic; it releases you of stress," she said.
She added that knowing how to swim is a necessity in life. "This is also a skill needed when you are looking for work especially abroad. Parents will also have peace of mind when their children travel because they can swim. Teenagers will enjoy their teen life because they can join in the fun with friends during pool parties and other outings."
Her class schedule in Amigo is from Monday to Saturday, 7:30 to 10 in the morning and 3 to 5 in the afternoon; Tuesday and Thursday 7:30 in the morning, 3 to 5 in the afternoon and 5:30 to 7 in the evening.
WILFRID OTTO WUTHRICH
Wilfrid Otto won the gold in the World
Taekwondo Festival in Korea
Wilfrid, 20, is a member of the National Training Pool and is a Second Dan black belt in taekwondo.
He started studying taekwondo in 1993 until the present. It was in 2000 that he trained on his own, with the assistance of a coach from Manila. "My sister Nicole is my training partner," he said.
He said that getting into taekwondo is very rewarding, thus, he encourages others to get into the sport, too. "This is a good sport and exercise both for your mental and physical well-being," he said.
His achievements include winning the gold in the 2007 Carlos Palanca Jr. National Taekwondo Championship, Senior Finweight Blackbelt category; became qualified for the National Team training pool last Feb. 8, 2007; gold medalist in the World Taekwondo Festival 4th International Korea Open in Chung Cheong, Korea; gold medalist in the 1st World Hwarang Taekwondo Championship in Korea in 2003; bronze medalist in the 2001 US Open International in Nevada, USA; Philippine Taekwondo contingent; and member of the Junior Taekwondo Blackbelt Brotherhood. At present, he has garnered more than 50 gold medals from local, national and international competitions he has joined. He holds a black belt in Karatedo as well.
WAYNE WUTHRICH
Wayne (fourth from left) during a karatedo class
The youngest member of the family at 13 years, is into taekwondo, karatedo, sailing, skim boarding, rock climbing and swimming.
His achievements include winning first place in the Governor's Cup in October 2006; first place in the Mayor's Cup in 2004 and 2006; and first place in the Mayor Jerry P. Treñas Open Karatedo Competition in January 2007, both in Kata and Kumite.
This yellow belter in taekwondo and brown belter in karatedo practices every Saturday and Sunday.
He studies at the Colegio de San Jose where he is a freshman.
He handles a swim class in Amigo as well.
MARGARET WUTHRICH
Margaret bouldering at Lamtang, Baguio
The eldest child at 23, Margaret, also a First Dan black belt in Taekwondo is into taekwondo, rock climbing and Frisbee nowadays. Her group placed third in a Frisbee competition in Manila and bouldering competition in Marikina.
She learned the value of teamwork and patience from Frisbee while rock climbing had taught her decision making skills as she learned to read the routes.
She's now based in Manila and teaches English online. She was featured in Marie Claire magazine.
At present, she is teaching taekwondo after work at Diliman Preparatory School and weekends at the School of Saint Anthony in Manila.
She's also into sailing.
NICOLE WUHTRICH
Nicole rock climbing
Nicole, 22 is the multi-faceted member of the family. She's into sports as well as modeling and entertainment.
A student of Sports Science in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, she's into taekwondo and a second Dan blackbelt, too (Wilfrid's training partner), rock climbing, sailing, skim boarding, swimming and Frisbee (Margaret's teammate).
She has come out as the double of Jennylyn Mercado in the Super Noypi movie and she's also a model in one Close Up commercial. This beauty was featured in magazines like Total Woman, Witch and Seventeen. Recently, she was featured in the Universi-TV as a role model for youths.
She's not just a gem in sports and a beauty; she is an intelligent person and a dedicated student, too. She was a consistent Parangal awardee of UP Diliman and hopefully will graduate cum laude this April 2008.
Nicole's achievements include a silver medal in the World Taekwondo Festival 4th Korea Open in Chung Cheong, Korea, 2001; Korea Open n Seoul, Korea, 2004; and a bronze medal in the 2002 US Open International Taekwondo Championship held in Orlando, Florida, USA.