Manila puts up sports academy

The city government of Manila, in line with its aim of developing mass-based sports in the city, will put up the Manila Sports Academy (MSA) for promising young athletes of the first Manila Youth Games (MYG) at the Manila Boys’ Town in Marikina.

The Manila Sports Academy is envisioned to provide education and sports training for young athletic achievers of the Manila Youth Games, particularly the out-of-school youth, and provide opportunities for them to build their lives as productive citizens.

"As an incentive, the city government of Manila will grant scholarships and shall continue to support the training of the city’s outstanding performers in the Batang Pinoy, as well as the MYG," Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said.

"The Academy is expected to bring sports scholarship holders together in one place for long-term residential sports programs where social, educational, medical, and vocational needs are also addressed," Manila Sports Council (MASCO) chief Ali Atienza, son of Mayor Atienza, added.

The young Atienza said MSA is also aimed at identifying talent and monitoring performance while providing direct financial assistance to help defray the cost of training, equipment, and facilities.

The scholarship programs to be offered are oriented towards meeting the young athletes’ development objectives. The MSA is tasked to plan and implement relevant and responsive training programs for children-athletes while academic assistance is made available.

"For promising out-of-school youth athletes of the MYG, one aim of the Academy is to ensure that these potential sports talents become career employees through basic education when their major sporting commitments are finished," Ali Atienza, the 1994 Asian Taekwondo Championships gold medalist, said.

Preparations for the staging of the first MYG are in full swing.

The MYG, scheduled April 7-14, is the comprehensive mass-based sports development program for the city’s in and out-of-school youth aged 12 years and under.

Ali Atienza said the Manila Sports Academy is part of the Manila Kasali Ka sports program, which will play a vital role in the staging of the MYG.

Sports on tap in the MYG are athletics, badminton, chess, dance sports, football, gymnastics, lawn tennis, girls Little League softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and volleyball.