POC, PSC give squash a lift

MANILA, Philippines - Squash Rackets Association of the Philippines (SRAP) president Bob Bachmann and secretary-general Vince Abad Santos said yesterday the way is clear for the sport to move to the next level with a P6.1 Million budget approved by the PSC and support from the POC in establishing a strong relationship with the World Squash Federation (WSF).

“We wouldn’t be where we are without the backing of the POC and PSC,” said Bachmann. “Last week, our budget was approved by the PSC for international and local events, training, coaching and equipment. We initially submitted a proposal for P8 Million but we couldn’t be happier with P6.1 Million considering last year’s budget was P3.4 Million. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. There are nine, possibly 10 events, in squash at the next Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and we’re getting ready to take home at least a bronze in each event. Our goal is to win the Philippines’ first squash gold medal at the SEA Games.”

Abad Santos said PSC chairman Richie Garcia and commissioner Jolly Gomez also approved a plan to build a public squash court near the gymnastics center at the Rizal Memorial Complex this year. “We’ll put up an office near the court and manage its use,” said Abad Santos. “We want to push grassroots development for squash and the only way is to make a public court accessible to kids. Right now, there are about 30 squash courts in the country, mainly in Metro Manila. We hope to activate maximum use of those courts. We’re planning to do an awareness and marketing campaign. We think squash is the next sports craze, it’s easy and fun to play. Forbes called squash the healthiest sport, it’s the best cardio workout within a short period of time.”

Bachmann said the POC has given its provisional go-signal for the SRAP to change its identity. “When we took over the SRAP last year, we found out it had no authority to print official receipts with 14 tax violations and no financial statements since 2006,” he said. “So we were advised to consider changing our identity. We’re coordinating closely with the POC and the WSF to make sure we’re taking the right steps.” Bachmann said the SRAP is grateful for the support of POC president Jose Cojuangco, Jr., first vice president Joey Romasanta, secretary-general Steve Hontiveros and legal counsel Ramon Malinao in moving forward.  The SRAP is also availing of the POC’s sports science program which has elements of nutrition and psychology.

Abad Santos said the national pool is training six days a week, six hours a day to stay fit. “Thrice a week, they run at the Rizal oval,” he said. “They do gym and court work. We fine players for being late or absent. We’re serious about this. We promised the POC and PSC we’ll be at our best for the next SEA Games.”

The national pool consists of Robert Garcia, David Pelino, Mac-Mac Begornia, Myca Aribado and Aysah Dalida in the elite level; Rafa Yam, Matt Lucente, Gabe Yam and Cody Cortez in 18-below juniors and Joan Aribado, Sandro Gotuaco, John Paul Mangahis and Vicente Abad Santos in developmental juniors. The national coaches are Jaime Ortua, Edgar Balleber and Jun Paganpan.

This year, the SRAP intends to send players to compete at the Asian Team Championships in Taipei on May 11-14 and the Asian Individual Juniors Championships in Kuala Lumpur in August. Two world-ranked players are arriving for a 3 to 4-day exhibition and clinic, possibly at the Shangri-La Taguig Hotel courts, in June and the SRAP is arranging for a foreign coach to look over the national training program. At least, four major local tournaments are in the schedule – four legs of the National Open where foreign players will be invited to join, the interclub championships, a charity event called Unsquashable and a celebrity All-Stars fun competition.

Bachmann said morale is high with the national team bringing back a gold, silver and two bronze medals from the Southeast Asian Cup in Myanmar last month. Myca Aribado, 22, and Dalida, 23, took the gold in the women’s jumbo doubles, the Philippines’ first squash title and only the second ever in 39 years or since Fausto Preysler won the East Asian championship in 1977. Garcia, 29, and Pelino, 19, claimed the silver in the men’s jumbo doubles. Aribado picked up a bronze in women’s singles while the Philippines also bagged a bronze in the team event consisting of two men’s singles, two women’s singles and one men’s jumbo doubles matches.

Abad Santos said the pool’s continuous training and hard work are paying off. “Even if we don’t have a jumbo court in the Philippines, we were able to generate chemistry with our teams because they train together,” he said. “Myca is the defender playing back and Aysah the attacker playing front. Robert and David are also familiar with each other’s moves. We’ll propose to the PSC for the public squash court to be equipped with movable side and back walls so we can adjust from the regular dimensions to the jumbo which is wider and longer and the new international game which is wider but the same length.”