Still, the Philippines Sports
Commission (PSC) “chose” it as the venue for the track and field events of the
Visayas leg of the 2013 Batang Pinoy (Filipino Youth) games, for athletes 15
years old and below. (A no-brainer, really: Maasin City being this year’s host of
the regional leg of the multi-sports event, we can be certain that it has no
other track oval in its territory.)
(A young athlete racing on Maasin City's track oval inside the Tomas Oppus Pilot School. Photo from Batang Pinoy (Philippine Sports
Commission Grassroots Program) Facebook page.)
Still, youthful dreams were, are,
and will be born and made upon the soil of the track oval of the beautifully
laid-back seaside city in Southern Leyte, Southern Philippines. Still, young and
budding Filipino runners learned valuable lessons in sports on that incomplete
track oval.
Besides, it’s not as if
international-standard track ovals are sprouting like mushrooms all over our "still-developing" country…
But Maasin City’s track oval
serves its purpose, and with the support of her sports-loving mayor Maloney Samaco (a former sports columnist himself for the Southern Leyte Times), we can expect it to be upgraded to international standard soon.
Likewise, the chosen coaches of
the Wrestling Association of the Philippines (WAP) – some club wrestling
coaches, some former wrestlers, some MMA fighters and instructors, and some PE
teachers – are doing their best in promoting and teaching the basics of the
sport to young Filipinos in their respective areas of responsibility. And they
will get better, amid criticisms from some malicious quarters.
And, just like members of most (if
not all) organizations, most deliver, while some do not. But the fact that most
are productive is a testament to WAP’s wisdom in its choices. And, let it not
be lost here that, after WAP recommended and submitted their credentials to the
PSC, the latter’s board decided to support them with monthly allowance.
We have to start somewhere, and
we are getting there: from a small town or city in a Third World country, towards an
Olympic village in the future.
The Maasin City track oval serves
its purpose, through rain or shine -- and so do our wrestling coaches in our forsaken land.
PSC Board Resolution No. 549-2012
PSC Board Resolution No. 668(A)-2012
PSC Board Resolution No. 275-2013
Now, about the young talents discovered in the annual Batang Pinoy, assuming
they grow up to be the senior national champions in their events and make it to the national teams
of their sport, will they be given the chance to represent the country in
international events like the Southeast Asian Games, at the very least? Well, I
believe this topic deserves another article…
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