Mindanao athletes have been given a shot in the arm.
Wanting to alleviate the plight of talented boxers and hoping to discover young golfers, pastor Apollo Quiboloy recently launched Sonshine Sports Management (SSM) in consonance with the construction of his 50,000-seater King Dome in Davao City.
Initially, Quiboloy will support six boxers, including former International Boxing Organization super featherweight titlist Edrin Dapudong, according to former North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol, who has been named chief executive officer of SSM.
Also in the fold are Lorenzo Villanueva, Rolando Magbanua, Rommel Asenjo and Roskie Cristobal.
Next in line is the creation of a pool of golfers, composed of five boys and five girls, to be selected and trained by Filipino-American golf instructor David Ginoo Heinen of Kaizen Golf Academy in Long Beach, California.
Heinen, who intends to put up golf training centers in Davao and Cebu provinces, envisions more Filipinos competing in the PGA and the LPGA within the next five to 10 years.
Quiboloy is the founder and leader of Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
The King Dome, slated to be finished late in 2015, will be able to stage boxing, basketball and volleyball events.