Only medal hopefuls may rejoin nat’l pool

PERFORMANCE WILL be the criteria for reinstatement of athletes earlier removed from the national pool.   Philippine Sports Commission chair Richie Garcia made it clear yesterday that non-performing athletes in the past two Southeast Asian Games will no longer get a chance to join the national squad.   “If an athlete didn’t perform well or has no medal to show, we might as well remove him from the list of candidates hoping to play again for the RP team,” said Garcia.   He added that athletes seeking to reclaim their spots in the national team should have at least shown a great potential to improve on their performances in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand and the 2009 edition in Laos.   From a pool of 700 athletes, the PSC under former chair Harry Angping retained only those who won medals in previous international meets, especially in the 2007 SEA Games and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.   “Right now, we only have around 300 athletes,” said Garcia. “We’re making sure that the athletes we will reinstate are capable of winning medals.”   Garcia said the PSC is working closely with the national sports associations to identify the athletes who deserve another tour of duty.   Once reactivated, Garcia said an athlete will be entitled to a paycheck retroactive to Aug. 1.