PH team chief wants new facilities for nat’l athletes

Chef de mission and Makati City Rep. Monsour Del Rosario.

Philippine chef de mission and Makati City Rep. Monsour Del Rosario has identified the ingredients needed to achieve success in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

Aiming for the overall title in the Games, Del Rosario believes that having proper training facilities and competition venues when the country hosts the 11-nation meet two years from now will have a positive impact on the national athletes.

There are plans to put up a training center in Clark, Pampanga, that national athletes can use for their buildup for the SEA Games and other high-level tournaments in the future.

“Other countries in our region have invested in building excellent competition venues and facilities,” said Del Rosario. “Putting up these structures will not only make our country proud when we host in 2019, it will also boost the confidence of our athletes.”

Del Rosario, a former taekwondo champion, also said foreign training and nutrition was important if the Philippines wanted to duplicate its only overall title in the SEA Games, which was achieved in Manila 2005.