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Thursday, August 25, 2005
Triathletes get no support
After the example set by cycling officials of using their own money to fund the national team’s international exposure in preparation for the Southeast Asian Games, the Triathlon Association of the Philippines followed suit.
Trap president Tom Carrasco led officials and triathletes in pooling their own money to pay for the expenses of four national triathlon-team members to Gold Coast, Australia to train.
Carrasco said the move came about as their response to the call of the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) to be self-reliant.
Challenge
The Trap top honcho, however, issued a challenge to the organizing body to do its part by delivering the equipment they requested for the Seag as a way to compensate for the effort and money the Trap officials and athletes have spent.
The four triathletes heading for Australia, Sandra Araullo, Ani Karina de Leon, Noel Salvador and Arland Macasieb, will all train under Australian coach Cole Stewart.
Carrasco said that Trap officials and the athletes themselves had to dig into their own pockets to cover part of the $20,000 needed for the trip as assistance from the sport’s godfather Diner’s Club has already been used up, and assistance from Philippine Sports Commission is minimal.
“When the money is short, we chip in so we don’t sacrifice our athletes’ training. We’re trying to be as self-reliant as possible,” Carrasco said.
He also said he expects Sen. Pia Cayetano to make good on her promise to help augment the funds, and PSC commissioner Richard Garcia to reimburse the triathletes’ $900 per head airfare.
Equipment
De Leon appealed to the Philsoc to expedite the release of the Trap’s training and competition equipment.
“We’re doing our end, and we just hope they give the equipment on time, especially the bikes, so we can use these,” she said.
Philsoc venue and equipment subcommittee head Freddie Mendoza said the bikes are among the first batch of equipment to be delivered next month.
He said the delays are largely due to the fact that some of the athletes do not fit into the standard bike sizes and the Philsoc had to order customized bikes. (JSV)
(August 25, 2005 issue)
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