TAC, NAGSALITA

Dalawang dekada nang bahagi ng Philippine shooting team si Tac Padilla. Malaki na ang naiambag niya sa katanyagan ng bansa sa nasabing sport. Noong nakaraang Asian Games, hindi nakapag-uwi ng medalya si Padilla. Sa unang pagkakataon, isinalaysay niya kung bakit.

"There really was no preparation for the Asian Games," sinabi ng multiple SEA Games gold medalist. " We did not participate in any international competitions before Qatar. They did not even buy any new supplies. The supplies we were using were left over from the Manila Southeast Asian Games. That’s why we dIdn’t have any expectations."

Isipin na lang natin na, bagamat nakakapagbiyahe ang kanyang mga kalaban upang lumahok sa ibang bansa, muntik pa silang itumba ni Tac.

"I was telling them that my Malaysian opponent trained for two years, travelling all over Europe," paliwanag ni Padilla. "He trained in Moscow and other countries, and yet he only beat me by one point. . It goes to show that even two years of training is not enough."

Lalo nitong ipinapakita na medyo huli na ang paghirang ng Philippine Sports Commission ng 12 sports para sa Beijing Olympics.

"It is really very late in the day," pagdiin ni Padilla. "Our opponents have been training for years already. Can we afford to send our shooters to four or five international competitions in a year? If you ask me, it will take four or five years of international training (and not starting from scratch) four our current crop of shooters, before we can be ready for the Olympics."

Isa pang suliranin ay ang kakulangan ng kasikatan ng shooting.

" The solution would be to get more private sector funding, but we are not a high-profile sport for private corporations," sabi pa ng Asiad veteran. " We are not a popular sport, and they won’t get exposures with us. So it has to be the government. But does the government have the money to spend on us to compete overseas? I don’t think so."

Naghahanap ngayon ng mga may panahong magsasanay para sa Philippine shooting team. Pero balewala ito kung may oras nga sila, pero wala namang suporta.

"What they want is right, to find people with time to train," pagwawakas ni Padilla. "But what will happen to those national athletes who have the time, if they don’t have the equipment? It will be useless. We really have to think long-term if we want to win an Olympic medal. The PSC and POC shouldn’t just concentrate on the Southeast Asian Games. That Asian Games should be our standard.