Even as Filipino athletes continue to bask in glory after dominating the recent 30th South East Asian Games hosted by the Philippines, they very well know what needs to be done in order to sustain the gains made in the biennial meet.
In a Champions’ Summit Media Conference at the Conrad Hotel, the be-medalled athletes from different disciplines, including karatedo’s Jamie Lim, wushu double-gold medalist Agatha Wong, triathlon champions Kim Mangrobang and Rambo Chicano, three-time SEAG gold medalist in taekwondo Samuel Morrison, Blu Girl Cheska Altamonte, ice hockey’s Kenneth Stern and underwater hockey’s Christopher Policarpio, among others, they identified several specific things needed to sustain the high performance of Filipino athletes as they look to the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam.
Filipino athletes know that in Vietnam, there will be no hometown crowd support that was a major factor for them, nor will they see the same number of over a thousand local athletes fielded and less events that would favor Filipinos.
And so they identified government funding support that would assure them of international training and exposure, the availability of training venues, a working grassroots’ program and good leadership in their respective National Sports Associations as among the factors needed to sustain the momentum of their SEAG title romp.
Altamonte cited the need for NSAs to do their own efforts to support their sport.
“We cannot depend on the Philippine Sports Commission all the time. We need to start with our own NSAs. Softball has long been enjoying continued support from sportsman-businessman Jean Henri Lhuillier,” Altamonte said.
Meanwhile, gymnastics’ head Cynthia Carrion pointed out that the biggest legacy from the 30th SEA Games would be the world-class facilities left behind after the games, referring to the New Clark City and the refurbished Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
For the record, after the 1991 SEA Games in Manila, from second place with 91 golds, the Philippines slid to 5th place in 1993 with only 57 golds. In 2005 when Team Philippines won the overall title for the first time with 113 golds, there was a drastic drop to 6th place two years later with only 41 golds.
How to avoid a repetition of this is the challenge posed to Filipino sports leaders and athletes.