Juico protests use of oval as sandcourt

MANILA, Philippines - Officials of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and the Philippine Sports Commission are at loggerheads over the agency’s planned construction of a beach volleyball sandcourt at the track oval of the Philsports Complex.

Patafa president Philip Ella Juico has formally conveyed the association’s “explicit and unequivocal opposition” to the project, stressing it “undermines the integrity and respect” for athletics and also “severely hampers” the throwers’ training and “endangers” life and limbs.

PSC chairman Richie Garcia has defended the undertaking, maintaining that the sandcourt won’t be “in the way” of the Pinoy throwers.

In his letter to the PSC yesterday, Juico said the sandcourt will be detrimental to the athletes.

“Having another structure that obviously does not conform with the standard setup of a track and field oval, as defined by the International Association of Athletics Federations, is not just bizarre but strongly implies that there is lack of regard for the value and importance of athletics within the context of Philippine sports,” said Juico.

“We do not oppose the PSC’s noble intentions of giving assistance and support to other sports. We, however, find it unfair that such support is done to the detriment of our sport,” he added.

Garcia explained that the sandcourt is situated away from the field events.

“We feel this area is not in the way of field events. We feel that as long as it’s not going to endanger the lives of athletes, we think it’s safe to put a beach volleyball court (there),” the PSC chief said during Tuesday’s PSA Forum.

But Juico said the construction, even if it’s yet to be completed, “severely hampers the training of our throwers and more importantly and in general puts at risk, life and limb.”

He said based on measurement by coach Arniel Ferrera, the court is being constructed 58 meters from the hammer circle and 50 meters from the javelin circle. Ferrera, he pointed out, can heave the hammer at 58 meters while coach Danilo Fresnido can hurl the spear to 62 meters.  Some collegiate javelin standouts are good for 60.66 to 60.69 meters.

“If we do the basic math, all throws will land within the same area of the planned beach volleyball court. Aside from the physical obstruction it poses to our athletes, it severely undermines their morale,” said Juico, who also took notice of Garcia’s pronouncements that the throwers “can’t even reach the court.”

Garcia mentioned the sharing of facilities as being done by swimming and water polo in an Olympic-size pool.

“You share facilities so that more athletes will develop and that’s our role at PSC. As a government agency, we are mandated to develop sports and beach volleyball is one of the sports we want to develop. It is a very good spectator sport. Rest assured, we’re not doing this to inconvenience the other sports. I mean, if it in any way bothers or disrupts the athletes, we’ll very well stop it. But I can guarantee, it’s not going to be a danger to the lives of any athlete in different sport,” said Garcia.

Juico, meanwhile, suggested that the beach volleyball court be built over at the Rizal Memorial Complex instead. He said a more viable location would be the parking lots around the Ninoy Aquino Stadium as it “provides ample space and visibility for the sport.” 

“We are hopeful your office will reconsider the plan. Athletics and the rationale of Philippine sports facility management will be the losers here. And it is the height of irony to let it happen to a sport which the PSC itself classifies as priority sport and is, in actual fact, the centerpiece sport in all major international competitions, from the SEA Games to the Olympics,” Juico said in his letter to Garcia.