PSC stops assistance to softball, baseball

By the looks of it, the national teams for baseball and softball will be out of the picture for a long time.

The Philippine Sports Commission has stopped giving financial assistance and allowances to baseball and softball, forcing the national teams of both sports to disband until a major competition appears on the horizon.

PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez said there’s no big tournament ahead for baseball and softball since the coming Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar has left out these sports in the calendar of events.

“What we agreed on (in the PSC board) was if there’s no major competition, the teams will be disbanded and they will just have to play for their respective clubs,’’ said Gomez.

Besides the high cost of maintaining a 25-man team like baseball, the PSC insists the composition of the roster hardly changed through the years.

“These national teams should be in a state of flux, always changing,’’ said Gomez, pointing out that coaches tend to favor certain group of players to suit up for the team.

Without any major tournament this year, Gomez said leaders of the baseball and softball associations should find or organize a local competition to keep their players in shape.

“In the present state of these NSAs, there’s no club competition. But they will have to look out for a local competition for themselves,’’ said Gomez.

“What we don’t want is to have a national team, which trains daily but without any competition to look forward to,’’ he added. “The team will not be formed until there’s actual competition.’’

Myanmar organizers decided to exclude baseball and softball in the 11-nation meet on Dec. 11 to 22, knowing that these bat-and-ball disciplines are consistent gold-medal earners for the Philippines.