Water sports

Hong Kong – “Summer doesn’t officially start until the Dragon Boat Festival ends,” thus said our guide the other day as she took us around this former British colony, which is now back under Chinese rule.

We missed the festival by only a few days and it would have been interesting to see the dragon boat races where Filipinos are regularly taking part in.

Since we live in an archipelago, it is quite sad to note that our country, although often figuring prominently in dragon boat racing, doesn’t really push many water sports, which we would most likely be good at due to the nature of the land we live in.

Many of us have heard of the Kenyans who excel in long distance racing because of the lack of transportation in their country, which forces many to run from one place to another to get to their destination faster.

Japanese baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki, who plays for the Seattle Mariners, is best-known for his ability to steal basis, a skill, he said he developed by rushing to catch the train while in his home county.

Of course, developing top notch athletes cannot always be done as simple as that, we need to get people involved in developing sports and not simply dream big things and do nothing.

The Cebufest, which took place last month at the South Road Properties, opened the eyes of the Cebuanos to the beauty of water sports. But we can’t wait for next year to get more people involved in water sports.

I believe we have a good chance in rowing, but this sport doesn’t get too much attention from our sports leaders. If we want to be good at anything, it takes a lot of hardwork and dedication and scientific training to become the best in the world.

Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao wasn’t an overnight success. Before he made it very big in the world stage the Pacman struggled as an aspiring boxer and had to go through a lot of tough years before becoming the billionaire athlete and politician that he is now.

Aside from his tough beginnings, he also has a very good team that is taking care of whipping him to shape for his fights. Do you think the Pacman could have achieved what he has done without his coach and training team?

Let’s go back to water sports. As nation of 7,107 islands, many of our countrymen are attached to the sea as a way of life. They are the ideal group of people to tap if we want to develop water sports in the grassroots level.

It’s not too late to do this, but then our sports leaders and other government officials need a lot more prodding to make this happen.

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There are many sporting events this weekend that I can’t afford to miss so I need to head back home ASAP.

Aside from Pinoy Pride 6, which is happening today, there is also a baseball match tomorrow featuring the Cebu Dolphins, which is a team competing in the baseball league in Manila.

This is a Cebu team that many have not heard about, so it would probably help push the team if we watch and support them in the event set at the Aboitiz Sports Field. The details will definitely be published on The Freeman.

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MILESTONES: Happy fiesta to the people of Toledo City, who are celebrating tomorrow although the festivities have started since last week.

Happy birthday greetings to my good old friend and fellow batted sports and photo enthusiast Icky Salazar, who turns a year older today. The same goes to Frances Grace Martinez-Carlos and our former fellow editor Roy Ho.

Advance greetings go to Dr. Hamabad Ranile and Janet Balbin-Hart, who are celebrating tomorrow.

More power to all of you!