Patafa gets PSA nod as top nat’l sports association

Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association will be named top national sports association during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night presented by San Miguel and Milo at Le Pavillon next week.

Patafa got the nod after sending two of its athletes to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and deftly maneuvering away from preventing a third one from participating.

Eric Shaun Cray, Marestella Torres-Sunang, and Mary Joy Tabal all met the qualifying standards needed to earn berths to the Rio Games, making Patafa a hands-down choice by the PSA for the Feb. 13 event co-presented by Cignal/Hyper HD.

Tabal, though, had a falling out with the association and at one point was in danger of being denied participation in the Olympics before Patafa chief Philip Juico deflected what could have been a huge controversy by accrediting the Cebuana runner.

It will be a double celebration for Patafa as Juico will be named Executive of the Year award in the same gala night backed by Smart, Philippine Sports Commission, Phoenix Petroleum, Gold Toe, Foton, ICTSI, Globalport, Mighty Sports, and Rain or Shine.

A total of 92 personalities and entities make up this year’s list of awardees for the two-hour program backed by the PBA, SM Prime Holdings Inc., ACCEL, MVP Sports Foundation, PCSO, NLEX, Meralco, and Federal Land.

Rio De Janeiro Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is the consensus choice as the 2016 PSA Athlete of the Year.