THE COUNTRY should focus on doing well in Olympic sports in the coming Southeast Asian Games than fret over the sports junked by the Bur-mese (Myanmar) organizers.
San Juan Rep. JV Ejercito, a member of the House committee on youth and sports, yesterday made this call to top local sports officials in the wake of the decision by the host country to load this year’s Games with sports and events alien to Filipino athletes.
“Let’s focus our attention on training athletes that can win the gold in the SEA Games,” said Ejercito. “With this, the athletes will be able to gain experience as they prepare for their next goal of making the Olympics.”
A total of 33 sports are scheduled in Myanmar—excluding the Olympic sports of water polo, badminton, gymnastics, table tennis and lawn tennis, where Filipinos are medal hopefuls.
Myanmar also inserted unheard-of nontraditional sports such as vovinam, tarung derajat, kempo and chinlone in an apparent bid to improve on its seventh-place finish in the 2011 Indonesia Games.
The Philippines, which placed sixth in Indonesia, is torn between sending a full contingent or a token delegation comprised of athletes entered in Olympic sports.
“Filipino athletes are capable of winning a medal in the Olympics. They just need proper training, preparation, exposure, and, of course, the solid backing of the government,” said the senatorial candidate and son of former President Joseph Estrada.
“If our grassroots programs are solid, we’ll surely develop athletes who can make us proud,” he added.