We can do it too

This early, London is abuzz with preparations for the 2012 summer Olympics. This is going to be the third time (first in 1908 and second in 1948) that the UK city will host the modern Games since the torch was lighted in 1898.

Our dismal performance in the various competitions that members of Team Philippines participated in during the just concluded Beijing Games should make us aspire harder to start a realistic sports program whose only aim is to bring home at least a gold.

Now is the time to put on a “can do, will do” mindset. As our Asean neighbors have demonstrated, with resolve, nothing is impossible.

In Beijing, Thai journalists shared with their Philippine counterparts that the kingdom has been reaping the dividends of their strategy to focus on sports best suited for the physique of their athletes, particularly boxing, taekwondo and yes, weightlifting. All three competitions are divided into weight classes, effectively leveling the playing field for typical Asian athletes.

Buckling down to serious work

Thai boxers and even weightlifters are trained for the Olympics as early as 10 years of age. Those with real potential are sent to Europe and elsewhere for more training and foreign competitions.

In weightlifting, after giving their athletes the proper support and training, Thailand has already brought home several Olympic medals, including four in Athens in 2004.

Thailand’s weightlifting heroes are not one shot deals either. Training with them are two other batches of younger lifters to make sure that the spot to be left behind by the retiring lifters will be more than filled up by the well-trained and prepared youngsters.

Talk about sustainability. Did we have a worthy successor training in the wings when Lydia De Vega was the toast of Asian athletics?

Even Indonesia is now focusing on its bread-and-butter sport: badminton. Singapore, on the other hand, is concentrating on table tennis (where it bagged a silver in Beijing).

An ideal prescription for the Philippines is to follow the Thai example and continue focusing on boxing and taekwondo. Or give more focus on disciplines like weightlifting, archery and shooting where weight-appropriate strength and accuracy, more than subjective and sometimes questionable judging, is key to winning.

Psyching them up

Following the first round losses of taekwondo jins Tshomlee Go and Antoinette Rivero, their Korean mentor commented that while his wards are very skilled and talented, they did not have the right frame of mind and the killer instinct to go after their rivals.

A Mexican taekwondo official revealed that his countryman, Guillermo Perez, was aided by a sports psychologist in preparing for the Olympics where he bagged the gold medal in the same weight division as Go.

The Mexican official said that Perez had only one goal in mind when he went to the Olympics, and that was to win the gold medal. Most importantly, Perez knew he would win because he believed he would win.

The coach of the Thai bronze medalist in the same weight bracket added that he did not put any pressure on his ward Chutchawal Khawlaor, and just asked him to “enjoy and have fun.”

In contrast, Go and Rivero even before arriving in Beijing were already pressure-laden to bag a medal owing to the early exit of boxer Harry Tanamor and the weak to nil chances of other members of Team Philippines.

Go and Rivero’s mentor Sung Chon Hung stressed that aside from physical strength, athletes must also be psychologically strong and prepared.

So it seems that a full-time sports psychologist is a must in the shopping list of sports leaders – if and when they finally decide to put an end to cheap talk and politics and implement a long, long overdue sustainable, effective and efficient sports development program.

Nurturing our strengths

We did win a gold medal in the demonstration sport of wushu, courtesy of Willy Wang, and a silver and two bronze medals from three other Filipino bets. We must make sure that younger wushu talents are already training in the wings in case wushu becomes an official Olympic sport in 2012 or the 2016 Games, when our current wushu stars may be slowed down by age.

Government may not have the full resources for this sort of goal, but there are other ways of skinning the cat. Congressman Danny Suarez’s upcoming proposed bill offering tax incentives to companies willing to “sponsor” athletes is worthwhile bringing to the table.

Time may not be on our side come the London Games, so why not aim for the 2016 Olympics? Along the way, it would be nice to see our medal harvests growing – not dwindling.

Let’s take it one step at a time – but let’s do it together and with unfailing resolve.

Collegiate Champions League update

The following is the latest standing of teams in various “mother leagues” nationwide as the race for qualifying slots in the regional championship of the SMART-Champions League 2008 Philippine Collegiate Championship games intensifies:

In Region 6 – Western Leyte College Mustangs and the Eastern Visayas State University Snipers are ahead in the Ormoc City Schools Basketball championship. In Region 7 – in the Cagayan de Oro Schools Athletic Association (COSAA), Xavier University Crusaders and the Capitol University Stallions are currently neck to neck for the league championship.

In Region 9 – Immaculate Concepcion Phoenix and Universidad de Zamboanga Wildcats are leading followed closely by Ateneo de Zamboanga Blue Eagles in the 4th FBZ Interschool Basketball. In the other Region 9 “mother league,” the Zamboanga-Sibugay Basketball Coaches Association, Kabansalan Institute of Technology and Universidad de Zamboanga-Ipil are on top.

The SMART-Champions League 2008 Philippine Collegiate Championship is a nationwide multi-level competition starting with the “mother league” games. The various leagues’ winning teams will advance to the regional, zonal and the final phase, the “Sweet 16” Final Challenge in Manila.

There are 213 teams from nine regional areas nationwide that are participating in the search for the best collegiate teams in the country. These teams are playing in 27 “mother leagues” that include the major leagues in Metro-Manila, the UAAP, NCAA, NAASCU, CUSA, and the CESAFI of Cebu City.

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, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.