Former PBA coach Alex Compton is back in town for the NBTC, and also to launch a book he’s co-written for parents who are seeking guidance for their kids’ athletic endeavors.
Add “book author” to the list of accomplishments of Alex Compton.
The former PBA head coach is once again in Manila to reprise his role as training director for the National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) National Finals set to reel off on March 31. It’s a project in which Compton is heavily invested in the emotional sense, having overseen the tournament’s growth along with executive director Eric Altamirano ever since they hatched the idea some 18 years ago.
“I always tell people, we really were just sitting in his (Altamirano’s) living room when the whole idea for this came,” Compton told The GAME in an exclusive interview during the 2025 NBTC National Finals launch. “It’s so much fun for me because we’re such good friends. He brought me to the Philippines. He was the coach who brought me here. And then we’ve been friends since and then we’re after the Nike Elite Camp sitting in a sala talking. And because we’re such good friends, we’re comfortable with shooting each other’s ideas down.
“So, just brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm. And most of the good ideas are his. But anyways, we talked and we’re here now.”
This year, though, Compton’s trip to Manila has two purposes. Aside from his passion project the NBTC, he is also launching his first book.
The book, titled Guiding Your Child’s Athletic Journey, will be formally launched this Friday. The core idea behind it was to help parents make educated choices for their children when they start joining youth sports.
He co-wrote the book with former Philippine Basketball League (PBL) player Kevin Dalafu.
“I co-authored it with a buddy who played in the PBL a little bit and I met here,” he said. “He’s a Fil-Am from California, but he runs a high school out in California and coaches their team. He’s been successful. And we met and we were friends.
“He didn’t quite make it to the PBA and he got into education. it’s not easy to make it in the PBA. But he’s really intelligent. He’s always really grounded. He’s a good dad. He’s a good coach.”
It was another friend, Wallace Panlilio, who suggested to Alex that he write his book. Panlilio co-authored another book called Wisest Learners for Parents, which Compton describes as “a holistic learning model for kids, for parents to understand how to positively impact and shape their kids’ learning journeys.”
In the process of writing that book, Panlilio came up with the idea for Guiding Your Child’s Athletic Journey. “As Wallace wrote that for parents and he wrote one for teachers, he said, ‘Hey, do you guys want to write one for parents of athletes?’ I thought, ‘Sure.’ So we started meeting with it and it took about a year and a half.
“But we had meetings and we wrote and we looked at some research and we shared some stories. The whole idea being sport is for everyone. You don’t have to be a, you don’t have to be Kieffer (Alas), but it’s for Kieffer too, right? You can play it because you love it, but a lot of times parents will get involved with youth sports and want to do their best for their kids.”
Sharing stories
Compton said their extensive research showed that most parents aren’t 100% sure how to guide a child who is interested in sports.
“We wrote it in a way hopefully that will be helpful with some tips and some research and some stories that’ll benefit parents in that process.
So it’s like, it’s, it’s one of those topics. It’s like any other, like, and that is in one book, we can’t hit everything.
“There’s a phrase about drawing the hearts of the sons to the fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the sons. What we want to do is bring about an intentionality or hopefully impact or increase a level of intentionality in parenting by showing some research and tackling 12 topics.
“You could write, on this topic, I’m guessing 10 volumes of books that are 500 pages each. So we had to condense, pick and choose. We chose 12 topics and then wrote about those with the idea that we’ll share some of our stories.
“We’ll look at some research. We’ll give you some practical tips. At the end of each chapter, there’s reflection questions because say your experience as a parent and your context is going to be different than mine, right?
“Everybody’s context is different. But if you look at the research and then kind of reflect on what you’re doing, hopefully, you can think a little more intentionally towards that process for your kid. And maybe, maybe you’ll be aware that you’re not raising the next Steph Curry, but you can mold some character and build some skills and create one.
“The bottom line I think is we want it to be that after the youth sports thing is over for our kids, that they’re good memories and that they learn character. And yes, sure, they had to go through some adversity, but that they’re good memories and they’re not wounds that turn people off.”
Alex Compton describes his book as a “fun and light read, but hopefully gets you thinking intentionally and hopefully share some things that’ll help make your process of guiding your child’s athletic journey healthier and more enjoyable for everybody.”
And as the book’s title suggests, the authors, both being former players and coaches, merely wish to guide parents who otherwise may not know how to hand-hold their kids as they navigate through youth sports.
“What I’ve noticed, most parents are incredibly well-intended,” Compton said. I’m incredibly well-intended in the kitchen, but I don’t know how to cook. I need somebody to help me, right? And some parents are amazing at cooking and some of us are learning.
“None of us are perfect, so we try to talk stuff. And if you’re parenting and your kids are in sports, we just want to help out.”
Banner Images by Sid Ventura.