US Ambassador Philip Goldberg Photo by Celest Flores/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The United States Embassy, as part of its ” America In 3D ” road show, conducted a two-day basketball and baseball clinics for kids which culminated Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
US Ambassador Philip Goldberg graced the sports clinics that saw hundreds of kids participate in an event that hopes to promote sports development in the country.
“It’s wonderful on two levels,” Goldberg said after seeing the kids play baseball.
“One, it’s great to see kids having a good time learning the fundamentals of games, here playing baseball at a very high level for their age so that’s a very nice thing,” Goldberg, who wore a grey Boston Red Sox tee, added.
A sports fan himself, Goldberg also shared how sports shows the strong relationship between the two countries.
“The other great thing for me as an American Ambassador here is the deep connection between the two countries and sports helps represent that,” he said.
“This is just a terrific part of our people-to-people relationship so both, as in the aspect of watching young people developing sports and exercise which is so important and I think [this is] something we want to continue to do, but also because of the rich history between our two countries,” he added.
Goldberg also took the time to oversee a basketball clinic with some Alaska Aces players and coaches held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
PBA legend Jojo Lastimosa led various drills that aim to improve communication apart from developing basketball skills.
Goldberg then headed to the nearby Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium where he threw the ceremonial pitch before two teams, composed of kids aged 8-18 years old, played a friendly and yet competitive game.
Goldberg, who also gave Major League Baseball bands to kids, stayed for a while as he intently watched the game before speaking with the media.