Why RP failed in YOG
AS ONE of the oldest members of the Philippine Sportswriters Association, I’ve been asked why we did not win any medal in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore.
I have been associated with sports since the mid-1960s, when I became the president of the PSA as a sportswriter for the Evening News and, later, elected three years in succession during the 1990s as sports editor of the Inquirer, succeeding the late Rudy Navarro of Tempo.
Here’s my honest appraisal of what went wrong in our YOG campaign (and other Olympic and international stints).
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Many countries have improved while RP sports remained stagnant. Our sports leaders are more concerned with just joining athletic delegations. Some politicians use sports for their own ends, which is prohibited by the world’s ruling body for amateur sports, the International Olympic Committee.
More importantly, our athletes should only take part in sports disciplines where we have good chances of winning.
As a taxpayer myself, we should spend our money wisely and not spend it unnecessarily. Sports leaders should also inspire the athletes to play more for the love of sports and country rather than for money and publicity.
Not many expected the Philippine delegation to make an impact in the YOG after the country fielded a roster that included new faces, some of whom lacked international exposure.
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The Philippine Sports Commission has given a big boost to sports science, an important program for the total well-being of the athletes but often ignored by many Filipino coaches. This time, the PSC, chaired by Richie Garcia, and its board, particularly commissioner Chito Loyzaga, is making sure that sports science will be given its well-deserved importance.
A son of basketball great Carlos “Caloy” Loyzaga, Chito recently said he was supporting a number of seminars aimed at promoting awareness, appreciation, and understanding of sports science.
“Actually, the Philippines has a head start over some Asean countries since we opened our first Philippine Center for Sports Medicine at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in 1990, ahead of Singapore and Malaysia, and up to the mid-’90s when the Sports Medicine Association of the Philippines (SMAP) got actively involved,” said Nino Sinco, a former national archer and one of the recognized experts in this field.
LAN Sports & Events Inc., headed by Sinco, is now embarking on a series of sports science seminars.
The seminar will resume on Saturday, Aug. 28, starting at 8 a.m. at the HDI Network training room, 3rd floor, Jollibee Plaza, Ortigas Center, in Pasig City. Sports nutrition will be the main topic, with nutrition expert Sanirose Orbeta as key panelist. Joining her are Luchi Callanta and Sinco.
* * * Thelma, Coleen and I would like to express our deepest sympathy to a long and trusted family friend, my kumpadre Pekto Manaois of People’s Tonight, whose wife Beth Belandres-Manaois passed away recently due to a lingering illness.
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