Dionisio "Chito" Calvo (November 20, 1904 – December 9, 1977) was a Filipino

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, swimmer, and coach who mentored both the

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

national teams of the Philippines. He was one of the greatest Filipino sportsmen in history and helped in the development of both Philippine and Asian basketball.

Early life

Born in

Sampaloc, Manila Sampaloc is a district of Manila, Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of is ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Calvo studied at the Ateneo grade school and the Manila high school prior to enrolling at the University of the Philippines college of agriculture at age 18. In 1921, Calvo became the first Filipino to win the platform diving title at the Far Eastern Games, forerunner of the Asian Games. He embarked on a brilliant career as an all-around athlete excelling in swimming, basketball, soccer, track, and even boxing.

Basketball and coaching

He was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

for the championship-winning Philippine basketball team alongside Lou Salvador in the 1925 Far Eastern Games, though he earlier represented the country not as a basketball player. He was a member of the Philippine national swimming team that competed in the

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

and 1923 Far Eastern Games. Calvo led the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

to the 1926

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

title but earlier captained the Manila Sporting Goods Co. to Philippine Open title. He eventually retired to focus on college coaching. His coaching career was a success, mentoring basketball championship teams of San Beda College, and the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

. He also coached the champion teams of De La Salle College in basketball and football. Later, Calvo coached the

Philippines men's national basketball team The Philippines men's national basketball team (), commonly known as Gilas Pilipinas, is the basketball team representing the Philippines. The team is managed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (Basketball Federation of the Philippines or s ...

to a fifth-place finish in the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

held at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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. A one-point loss to the United States prevented the Filipinos from qualifying in the round of four. The fifth-place finish remained the best finish by the national team and by an Asian country in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

basketball history. The team included Filipino legends Ambrosio Padilla, Charlie Borck and Jacinto Ciria Cruz, along with Primitivo Martinez, Bibiano Ouano, Franco Marquicias,

Francisco Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de A ...

and Jose Vestil. In 1938, Calvo organized the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA). MICAA was a commercialized amateur basketball league that help shaped Philippine basketball for more than 30 years. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Calvo coached the second Philippine Olympic basketball team in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

held at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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. The team finished 12th but set a new record by thrashing

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, 102–30 in their opening game. The Philippines was the first country to score over 100 points in a single game of the Olympic Games basketball history. Calvo was also the head coach of the first Philippine national team that captured the basketball gold medal in the

1951 Asian Games The 1951 Asian Games, officially known as the First Asian Games (), were a multi-sport event celebrated in New Delhi, India from 4 to 11 March 1951. The Games received names like First Asiad, 1951 Asiad, and New Dehli 1951 (). A total of 489 athl ...

and includes basketball legends,

Carlos Loyzaga Carlos "Caloy" Loyzaga y Matute (August 29, 1930 – January 27, 2016) was a Filipino basketball player, coach and politician. He was the most dominant basketball player of his era in the Philippines and is considered as the greatest Filipino ba ...

and

Lauro Mumar Lauro "The Fox" Mumar (March 6, 1924 – December 20, 1990) was a Filipino basketball player and later served as the national team head coach of India and the Philippines. He was one of the greatest Filipino players of his time, playing alongs ...

. Calvo along with Ambrosio Padilla initiated the formation of the Asian Basketball Confederation (now the

FIBA Asia FIBA Asia is a zone within the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA) which contains Asian FIBA member associations. Sub-zones 44 member associations in 6 sub-zones: # Central Asia Basketball Association (CABA) – 5 member associati ...

) in 1960 and served as its first ever Secretary-General with Padilla as its first president. He was the first Filipino and a charter inductee for the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA in 1991. Originally built in ...

when he was inducted as a contributor on March 1, 2007.

Posthumous citation

Two years after his death, Calvo was inducted into the Ateneo Sports Hall of Fame. In 1982, the organizing committee of the seventh Asian Youth basketball championship has cited Calvo for his efforts in establishing the Asian Basketball Confederation.

Awards and achievements

* 1925 Far Eastern Games champion *1926 NCAA Philippines champions *Philippine Open champion *

, fifth place (head coach) *

, 12th place (head coach) *

champions *Member,

as a contributor.

Football

Calvo also coached the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team () represents the Philippines in men's international association football, football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internationally since 1913. Prior to World W ...

that finished with a tie for second place in the 1934 Far Eastern Games. He also led the team that participated at the 1954 Asian Games.

Statistics

;Managerial

References

External links

Dionisio Calvo's FIBA Hall of Fame page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvo, Dionisio 1904 births 1977 deaths Filipino men's basketball coaches UP Fighting Maroons men's basketball players Filipino male swimmers Guards (basketball) Basketball players from Manila FIBA Hall of Fame inductees Filipino football managers Philippines men's national basketball team players Filipino men's basketball players Philippines men's national basketball team coaches People from Sampaloc, Manila Philippines national football team managers Philippine Sports Hall of Fame inductees San Beda Red Lions basketball coaches UST Growling Tigers basketball coaches De La Salle Green Archers basketball coaches