THE Philippine Olympic Committee begins its search for talented Manilenos, who will be trained to compete with other teams all over the country at the Philippine National Games in 2017.
Winning teams and sportsmen from the Games automatically become representatives of the country in the Southeast Asian games and even the Olympics.
POC Director Cynthia Carrion says the Committee has partnered with Bless a Life Charities, a Non-Govermental Organization, to assist them in finding sports talents especially those residing in District 3 of Manila. The district is composed of 123 barangays from Santa Cruz, Binondo, San Nicolas and Quiapo.
Marilou “Ninang” Chua, founder of Bless a Life Charities expressed her elation over the announcement, saying this is a great opportunity for young Manilenos, between the ages of 14 to 16 years old, to show their skills and talents and compete in a national as well as the Asian levels.
“We thank the POC for believing in the talents and skills of our young Manilenos. I have always believed that there are rare gems here in our district, and now is the time for our young Manilenos to shine and show our fellow Kababayans, ang galing ng Manileno,” said Chua.
Chua, who is an avid practitioner of Mixed Martial arts, is at the forefront of efforts to increase sports awareness and development in Manila. The former Binibining Pilipinas candidate is widely known not just for her beauty and brains but also her enthusiasm in propagating and developing budding sports talents in Manila’s district 3.
For this talent search, interested participants are asked to register in the “May Talento sa District 3 ni Ninang” program beginning January 2016. Manilenos residing in District 3 who are avid and active players in basketball, chess and billiards, will be grouped into teams and will undergo a strict program.
National coaches from the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will be there to assist the group in implementing the program. Pastors from “Pastors Connect”, a pastoral group based in Manila will provide value formation skills for chosen players. Prayers and values formation program will be given before and after the games.
Those chosen among the pool will comprise the Manila team which will compete with other teams from different cities and towns in the 2017 Philippine National Games. Winners from the games are automatically included in the national teams which compete in international sports competitions, such as the South East Asian games, the Asian and even the Olympics.
Carrion welcomed this as an opportunity to promote sports development in Manila. “We are pleased to have Marilou “Ninang” Chua as our partner in Manila in promoting sports development for our youth”.
The POC-PSC National Games is on its fifth year and is being supported by the POC, the Department of Education, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the respective Local Government Units (LGUs).
Last year, a total of 11,206 athletes from 550 local government units from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao participated in 31 sports in Batang Pinoy; while the National Games was participated in by 8,439 athletes from 494 LGUs who played in 46 sports.