PSC wants bigger Batang Pinoy program thru LGU participation

MANILA, Philippines - After discovering a treasure trove of talents at the recent Batang Pinoy Games, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is setting its sights on a bigger edition in the future.

More promising athletes, kids aged 15 years old and below, will be encouraged by their local government units (LGUs) to participate in a larger event next year.

Out of the one thousand-plus LGUs across the country, only 89 made it into the national championships hosted recently by Naga City where prized finds for boxing, taekwondo, archery, badminton, swimming and track and field emerged.

Baguio ruled the national finals while Laguna, Manila, Quezon City, Cagayan De Oro and Tayabas also produced future sports stars in the five-day final.

“We had at least 20 LGUs which participated in each of the five qualifying legs. But there are over 1,000 LGUs in the country so we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” said PSC commissioner Jolly Gomez.

In support of Batang Pinoy’s vision is Summit Natural Drinking Water, the official bottled water of Philippine Olympic Committee athletes, recognizing the importance of hydration to sustain the physical and mental edge of our future torch-bearers.

“Summit Natural Drinking Water believes in the potential of our young athletes and we salute the PSC in its continuing mission to discover and develop athletes who aspire, perspire, and inspire,” said brand assistant Eli Malicdem.

The PSC is looking to expand the base to non-active cities, municipalities and provinces not only to achieve the goal of identifying potential talents for the national teams, but to entice more Filipino youth to get into sports.

“We did a survey and only five percent of our students today are engaged in sports while six percent of our youth are addicted to drugs, so there are more drug addicts than athletes. We hope to change those statistics through Batang Pinoy,” said Gomez.

He also pointed out that only 22 percent of 94 million Filipinos exercise at least three times a week while everyone else lives a sedentary lifestyle.

“You know what that means? We are raising a society of unhealthy people with potential health risks. Forty percent of our population is under 15 years old so doing a sports program for the youth will help build a healthy citizenry and better lives,” said Gomez.

Of 1,200 athletes in the national finals, national developmental pool-bound talents, including out-of-school youths, were also discovered in judo, wrestling, weightlifting, chess, table tennis – sports covered by the Youth Olympic Games 2014 to be held in China.

“We had 1,200 kids in 12 different sports. A lot of them, I hope, are going to be good leaders because of what sports brings to you,” said Gomez.

“It gives them self-confidence and discipline. It teaches them how to handle adversity; the value of practice and persistence. All these are lessons you don’t always get in the classrooms,” he added.

Next year’s Batang Pinoy finals will be held in Iloilo City and with the help of the LGUs, the Department of Education and more support from the private sector, the PSC is quite confident that building a healthy nation of sports-minded youths is a goal not far in the offing.