John Pages’ interest in sports started when he first dribbled as point guard for the La Salle Bacolod basketball varsity team. When his family moved to Cebu City in 1986, he shifted from shooting the orange ball to volleying the yellow ball… in tennis. At the age of 16, after swinging forehands for only two years, John rose to become (Boys 16) one of the country’s Top 5 junior tennis players.

He was formerly the Regional Vice-President for the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association (Philta) and, due to his efforts to uplift tennis, in 1999 he was awarded by the Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) the “Sportsman of the Year” award.

John is active with their family businesses: Thirsty Juices and Shakes, Bright Academy and Play House Children’s Center, the My Playroom Day Care Centers, and Mooon Cafe.

But his passion has always been sports. He pedals the hills of Talamban, Cebu on his Trek mountain-bike, lifts weights at the Casino Español de Cebu, occasionally tees off in golf or flicks his wrist to smash in badminton, and he runs marathon (42-K) races. Last Dec. 7, 2008, he finished the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. And, in October 2009, John finished his second 42-K race, the Quezon City International Marathon.

John is married to Jasmin Mendez and they have an 11-year-old daughter, Jana Marie.

Since 1994, he has been a sports columnist. First, in The Freeman newspaper under the name “Tennis Is My Game,” he wrote for nine years. Then starting 2003, he shifted to Sun.Star Cebu, the leading regional newspaper in the Philippines, with “Match Point,” which appears every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Enjoy the pages of John in CEBU SPORTS BLOG!