PSC bats for longer overseas training

MANILA, Philippines - Instead of overseas exposures, Filipino athletes will have more of overseas training as they gear up for major international competitions for 2014.

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia said they find more sense in sending athletes to train in different countries for a longer period of time.

“As much as possible we will send them to training camps than mere overseas competitions. In training camps you learn more and improve,” said the PSC chief.

The PSC spends for the training of athletes from the different national sports associations, and millions of pesos go to international stints.

Garcia said athletes will certainly benefit more from training overseas than just going to different countries for short competitions.

Some international events of smaller scale only take less than a week to finish, and yet the PSC spends so much for them.

“Even five international exposures mean nothing compared to one serious training camp of let’s say three months,” said Garcia.

“It’s non-stop training for two or three months and it’s better than sending our athletes to one-week competitions,” he added.

“Ano ba makukuha mo dun? (What do you get from it?). Yes, you measure your performance but I’d rather send them train three months overseas.”

For 2014, the Philippines will field its top athletes to the Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China in August and the Asian Games in Incheon, Korea in September.

Garcia said the different NSAs should strongly consider his suggestion and as soon as the New Year comes in they should have something in mind.

NSA officials must coordinate with their foreign counterparts and see which country is willing to open its door for Filipino athletes to train.

Garcia said it could be in any Asian countries like China, Korea or even Mongolia, the United States or even in Europe.