By Esra Al-Abduljabar (Contributor) – Email
As the Cascades men’s basketball team finishes off their second home weekend of the season, Manny Dulay begins his fourth year as a guard for the team. The kinesiology student talks to The Cascade about his beginnings with the sport, as well as his Movember fundraising initiative.
How did you get into basketball? I was playing soccer back in grade two, and my dad’s good old friend from back in the day had his son playing too. They saw how tall I was, and told me that my height would be good for basketball. That’s when I started playing basketball at YMC in grade three, and from there I started getting a little bit better and better and ended up here.
What do you like about the sport? It taught me a lot of lessons in life, such as how to deal with certain things. There’s a lot of thrill behind it, and it also has a fun aspect.
How has the training been going so far? We’ve been running a lot, but it’s been good. Like any other team, we had a bit of early struggles finding our roles since we have a couple of new players, but I believe we’re headed in the right direction.
What are you looking forward to most this season? Well this year, out of all the years I’ve been here, has been one of the most open years to win nationals, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we would accomplish that goal. I think we have a solid team, and I think we have the capability of winning Canada West and nationals. But it’s just about doing it, and that’s what I want to see. I want to see how we can accomplish our goals. We have certain goals to make out, and I think this is actually the year we can accomplish a lot of them.
What have been your favourite moments or games with the Cascades? Last two years we made Canada West semis. Each of the semis have been a different experience to me. The last two were tough for me ‘cause I didn’t play at the performance that I wanted to play at, so obviously they weren’t that enjoyable. My first year, the first round, we went to [Saskatchewan]. We were the underdogs even though we thought we had a really good team. We ended up winning the first game, lost second game, our best player went out, then we ended up squeaking out a win against one of the best teams in all Canada West, and that was a fun experience for me.
How do you find time to balance sports and school? Maybe even a job? It’s tough. I did struggle with school the first couple of years. The thing I learned is how to plan my time, and I learned how to understand what each aspect of my life needs. Basketball needs you to train and work out, and to watch game film; there’s a lot of stuff behind that. And for school you have to plan out homework for each class, and plan out how you’re going to do your assignments. So planning is the biggest thing for balancing it all, and when I have work it’s just about sucking it up and going to work, and trying to make some money.
Do you think you’ll pursue basketball professionally after university? It would be a decision in the moment, and depending on what the offer looks like. I would love to continue playing basketball, but it would have to be the right situation — family wise, and for myself as well — and a lot of factors. If it’s the right situation, I would totally pursue it.
Can you tell us a little about the “Movember” initiative, and how you’re offering people a chance to vote with their dollars? I’ve done Movember for the last two years. The first year I did it without actually setting up an account or anything to raise money and stuff. Last year I raised $500 on Movember account. This year, with the help of our therapist and the UFV staff, we’re doing this thing where we are giving you guys a selection of ‘staches. You can find that on a poster by the UFV therapist group, and there is one on my Instagram page and Movember page. Pretty much, it’s four selections: you donate money — you could donate through my Movember account, or you can donate to anyone involved at UFV, like the therapist or any of the UFV staff. When you donate, you pick a ‘stache. So if I donate $10, and let’s say I select ‘stache number one, $10 go to ‘stache number one. And whichever ‘stache raises the most money, that’s the one I will do on November 14. It’s quick, so we’ve only got a week left — that’s unfortunate — but that’s our last home week of November, so I’m going to pull it out for that game, and we’ll see how much we will raise. I’m at about $169 right now.
Anything you want to say to UFV students wanting to try basketball out? Understand that it takes a lot of hard work and it’s not something that is just given to you to have the skill; rather you have to put in the work to be able to do it. But it’s an enjoyable sport and if you like it, go after your passion. And if you feel like you could be successful, ask for help. At the end of the day, it’s all about how hard you work and how much time you invest in the sport. This interview has been edited for length and clarity
