STARTING next year, the Philippine Sports Commission will step up its efforts to identify young athletes who can someday win medals for the country in international meets.
The launching of the Philippine Sports Institute on Jan. 17 will make sure that these kids will have a future in sports.
“It will be the culmination of everything we worked for since July,” said national training director Marc Velasco, who PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez appointed to head the PSI.
The talented kids who are between the age of 8 to 15 years old will be put under the grassroots’ athletics development program.
This is a program which Velasco developed while working closely with deputy director Dr. Henry Daut, who came aboard last October.
The PSI is expected to become the PSC’s flagship program in terms of talent identification.
President Rodrigo Duterte will be the guest speaker during its launch at the Philsports Multipurpose Hall in ULTRA, Pasig City.
The program is first set to be held in Davao, before it is later introduced in other provinces.
The PSC has plans to put up around 40 regional training centers in the provinces.
Ramirez said around 20 of the centers will be located in Luzon, while 10 will be in the Visayas region, and the other 10 will be in the Mindanao region.
Initially, around 16 areas were identified. But more LGUs got interested, according to Ramirez.
The PSI will initially have a staff of 15 overseeing the development of athletes, who will be trained at the grassroots’ and elite level.