Limpag: Popular sports

TWO of the most followed national teams in the Asian Games are the volleyball and basketball teams, both of whom had zero chances of a gold medal going into the quadrennial meet. To be fair to Gilas, though, it wasn’t their fault and the players’ gallant showing against China had the country dreaming of basketball gold, something unheard of when the team was formed.

For the volleyball team, well, let’s just say the PSC’s stand of funding only medal contenders is justified.

In 2014, our lone gold medal came from Daniel Caluag of BMX and the Fil-Am won a bronze this time around.

Our gold medals--as of yesterday--came from weightlifting and golf--all won by female athletes, mind you, a fact that would boost the morale of those who bristled at that “babae kasi” comment. But I digress. Veteran sportswriter Dennis Principe posted a curious question the other day, after golf delivered the double gold--are we into the right sports? Basketball, I guess, will forever be the No. 1 sport of the Filipinos and almost all athletic-minded Pinoys will, at some point in their lives, dribble a basketball. But what about the other sports? Specifically the sports that deliver for us in international contests? Why aren’t we into it? Take BMX, for example. After Caluag’s gold, the sport could have used that as a catalyst to push its popularity, hold more national contests and all but the fact that it’s still Caluag who’s representing us shows that after this guy retires, no one will be taking his mantle.

Hidilyn Diaz’s triumph is well-documented, but the struggles of her NSA aren’t. Though there are a growing number of weightlifing events all over the country post-2016--thanks to Diaz-- I think the push is still not enough, given the fixation of everyone else toward volleyball and basketball.

Can we blame them, though? When someone starts to get serious in choosing a sport, it is not to win an Asian Games gold or an Olympic gold, it is primarily to bag an athletic scholarship. And with basketball and volleyball getting the bulk of the schools’ athletic funds, you can’t blame kids for lacing up their Air Jordans or channeling their inner Valdezes. Besides, a pro career is possible in both sports, so you also have kids dreaming to take that route.

Perhaps, it’s time for the NSAs of other medal-rich sports—weightlifting, swimming, and even karatedo—to get their act together to promote their sport. Or perhaps that these three potential gold-mines are having internal strife is part of the problem, if not THE reason young Pinoys aren’t taking up the sport. Look at taekwondo, a model NSA that has consistently won medals in international competitions. Lots and lots of kids are into the sport. They don’t rely on Fil-Ams but send out athletes they’ve developed from scratch. It may not be as popular as basketball or volleyball, but they are getting the players. Why? I guess the answer to Dennis’ question is the answer to most of the ills of Philippine sports. The officials in charge of their sport are too busy holding on to their posts (swimming), have left their posts (weightlifting) and have been booted out (karatedo) that they are back to square one.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph