FORMER Senator and now Taguig City Representative Pia Cayetano hopes to organize a bigger PIA Cup next year.
She said that she hopes to hold the tournament for one week also here again in Cagayan de Oro City.
“We will invite more teams from Manila and we will set the tournament during the semestral break," she said while watching her two daughters play in the ongoing 2nd PIA Cup football tournament at the Westridge Sports Park.
She said that coach Hans Smit of De LaSalle University has assured her that they will join the tournament next year.
Pia aims to empower women and girls in our country by providing a healthier lifestyle and information for a better future.
“A Pinay in Action (PIA) woman embraces her individuality and recognizes her contributions to society, big or small. So, they are striving more to encouraged Pinays of all ages to participate in their events, in order to sustain an active and happy way of life," she added.
She said that her inspiration actually came from her childhood. “My parents encouraged me to participate in sports. My dad told me to balance my studies and sports. Kumbaga, that’s a part of your relaxation,” she said on her inspirations of having this PIA Cup tournament.
She also said that, it was also her dream for her children that they would love sports and they would embrace it as part of their childhood.
As a mother, her major role is to give moral support to her two daughters, Maxine Sebastian, 21 and Nadine Sebastian, 18.
Maxine is currently taking up Architecture at UP while Nadine is taking up Communications. Maxine plays striker while Nadine plays defender.
UP won the UAAP women’s football title season last year.
“Sport is the best activity that can be partnered with studying,” she said.
She added that, many parents up to now have this misconception about sports that it could somehow hinder the education of their daughters. But actually the proper role of parents in any athletic program is guidance, discipline and moral support.
“Many parents can break a child’s future. And take note, I am not saying future not just about future in sports, but, future in general,” she added.
According to her as a mother, the best that she could do to her daughters is to guide them well and to do the best of everything that they could do. It was her happiest moment when she could spend time with them more and bond with them.
“The worst is not being with them."
She also hopes that Pinay in Action continues to evolve coming from that one-woman race into a bigger program.
Pinay in Action advocacies are; Women’s Health, Inspirational and Career Talks, Seminars on Breastfeeding, Anti-Violence against Women and Children, Run Races and Fitness Clinics.