‘Sports for life’

THERE’S one very assuring sign posted outside the main entrance to the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, which belongs to the family of the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

It reads: “Sports for life.”

It was there last year, and it’s being reported here in the present tense, considering how the POC president has visibly continued to live by the same tenet.

* * *

Our man of the hour has been a dedicated sportsman practically all his life.

In his last venture, he headed the Philippine national contingent to the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore, brimming with big hopes for a redeeming performance by a bigger, better funded delegation.

However, he reportedly had to leave ahead of his delegation, and allowed the chef de mission, a longtime crony, to do the explaining about the failed national sports mission.

The head of mission said, “Our athletes did their best in the Games.”

* * *

At least, “their best” did not produce the worst, which had come in Burma (Myanmar) two years ago where the Philippines slipped to an anomalous seventh place in the SEA Games.

What the sixth place in Singapore vividly showed, though, was the continuing retrogression of sporting life in the country.

The Philippines has remained stuck close to the medal-tally cellar, bunched among poor unheralded contingents.

* * *

Of course, there would be no admittance of what again went wrong.

Noted the venerable Ramon J. Farolan, who himself craves for pertinent leadership in PH sports: “There’s no quick-fix solution to the problem. The kind of discipline that will lead to better performances starts in our classrooms, where our children are provided with their first lessons in civic duties and responsibilities.”

Zeroing in on the problem, Dr. Aparicio Mequi, sports development guru, rued the death of the culture of physical education in the country: “DepEd (Department of Education) people in sports have no sound training or experience to make crucial judgments to make policy and practice. This is why we’re not making any progress. It takes more than being an athlete or sportsman to really understand and be a sports leader. China and other countries have colleges and universities of PE and Sports staffed by people with PhDs, sports medicine doctors and scientists. We don’t have such a single institution in the Philippines.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Dr. Mequi quoted the late Ricky Llanos, long-time sports editor of the pre-martial law Manila Times, who said: “The problem with Philippine sports is that national sports association (NSA) officials treat their sports as family heirlooms.”

As the motto of the overstaying POC chief declares, it’s “Sports for life,” by hook or by crook.