LONDON OLYMPICS: DREAM OR NIGHTMARE?

The Philippine Star
08/29/08

Three weeks ago, we wrote about the need for Team Philippines to have with them lots of luck while participating in the Beijing Olympics. Our straggling 15-man team apparently could not hide their inadequacies as event after event saw them trounced by other countries’ bets.

Our Olympians may have given their best, but obviously, their best wasn’t good enough to even draw the magic of the auspicious 08-08-08 numbers. We welcome home our limping team, incidentally minus the lucky eights, for a 0-0-0 medal haul.

As we close this chapter in our history of sports, we open a new door – onwards to the 2012 London Olympics! We have four years to prepare, undoubtedly a bit short if we take stock of our national cache of talents.

All of us, not just our sports leaders and officials, should put our hearts and minds together to initiate the necessary reforms to put Philippine sports back on its feet. And things must be set in motion now, and in full blast by next year.

We must heave ourselves out of the old cycle of training athletes a month or two before the Games, offering hefty bonuses that not one of them could realistically claim, laud losers for at least giving their best shot, and then come up with declarations pertaining to the need to institute reforms in the national sports program.

We’ve been doing this cycle in the last decade, and getting so good at it. Meantime, neighbors Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam are already making it a habit to bag medals in the last three editions of the Olympics.

Where the money should go

Businesses that dangle multi-million peso windfalls to our inadequately trained athletes for an Olympic medal are indulging in sadistic fantasies.

If they really mean well, then the money that theoretically should have been set aside as reward money should now be allocated and spent during the next four years on those we will send to the next Games.

Or pool the money and start a seed fund that would be used to train athletes in sports where the country has the best chances of winning in preparation for the 2016 Olympics, or maybe as early as the 2012 Games.

Now could be a good time too to revitalize the godfather program where companies were tapped to bankroll elite athletes, but this time sans politics so as not to turn off the benefactors.

I hear Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez is planning to introduce a bill that will grant tax incentives to benefactors and firms that would invest in athletes in preparation for the Olympic Games. Let’s hope this bill becomes a law soonest.

My suggestion, however, is that whatever funds are provided by corporate donors should be spent directly for the training of selected athletes. The funds should not go to the sports association or government agencies, or else the bulk of it will just be siphoned off either through corruption or mismanagement.

Thai, Jamaican niche

In business, finding a niche market is often a successful strategy when the competitive environment is littered with multiple and dominant players. The same principle could be applied to sports development.

Throwing full support to sports disciplines where we have a realistic chance of bagging an Olympic medal and where the Filipino physique is best suited is the way to go. Jamaica, and our Asean rival Thailand, for that matter have taken the same tack.

Because of their in-born agility and long limbs, the Jamaicans have been fixtures in track and field events, particularly sprinting. Double sprint gold medalist Usain Bolt, who also shattered the world records in the 100 and 200 meter runs en route to the gold, stands 6’5 ½” tall.

In the Philippines, somebody that tall would be lured to play basketball – where we really don’t stand a chance against US, Spain or Argentina.

Our swimmers managed to break the Philippine records, even as they failed to advance past the heats. Again, how could we have dreamt of getting past the 6’7” wingspan of Olympics gold medalist Michael Phelps.

More next week on ideas being thrown around on how and what sports officials intend to do to get those elusive Olympic medals or at least improve on our dwindling catch in the Asian, ASEAN and even the SEA games.

Collegiate Champions League update

The University of Northern Philippines (UNP) of Vigan City won the recently concluded Schools Colleges Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) – Vigan collegiate basketball competition and captured the 4 th Lauro B. Tacbas Cup. Runner-up in the five-team league is Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) from Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Both UNP and MMSU qualified for the regional championship (Region 1) of the SMART-Champions League 2008 Philippine Collegiate Championship games. They will join the top teams from the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League (BEAL) for the Region 1 championship.

The Region 1 champion together with the Region 2 champion, NCAA 4 th placer, South NCAA Runner-up, and two wild card entries will compete in the zonal championship where two slots in the “Sweet 16” Final Challenge are at stake. The FilOil Flying V “Sweet 16” Final series will be held in Manila.

The five teams that participated in the SCUAA tournament are UNP, MMSU, Ilocus Sur Polytechnic State University from Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University from San Fernando, La Union, and Pangasinan State University from Lingayen, Pangasinan.

Aside from the prestige of being crowned national champion, schools can also look forward to over P2 million worth of scholarships and other grants and prizes at stake in the regional, zonal and national championships. The grants will be a big incentive especially for schools with limited funds for sports development.

The Philippine Collegiate Champion will get P500,000.00 in grants and will represent the country to the 2009 Universiade Games to be held in Serbia. The Universiade brings together the top school teams and athletes from around the world in a competition similar to the Olympics.

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year sponsored by SMART, visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.