A FEISTY Negrense from Western Visayas won gold in Taekwondo during the Palarong Pambansa 2019 in Davao City last May 1. She is Mary Angeline Uy Alcantara. “Bolin” as she is fondly called by her family and friends is a 15-year-old young lady whose only wish is to finish her studies and become a successful person someday.
Mary Angeline is the eldest among the brood of four. She is the only girl of very supportive parents Jun Mark and Angela Alcantara. In addition, Mary Angeline is a scholar of Living Stone International School. But little did she know that her love for Taekwondo would lead her to different Taekwondo competitions. She started at the young age of nine, training in Hanah Taekwondo Gym under the guidance of one of the best coaches in Taekwondo, coach Victorino Felix Feria, Jr.
Mary Angeline had surely sacrificed a lot, had produced droplets of sweat just to be where she is right now, a champion. You can just imagine a young lady going to school during the day and training Taekwondo at night. This only shows that she is a person with dedication, passion, discipline, focus and determination. Just like the adage that says sweat plus sacrifice equals success.
To add more to her laurels in Taekwondo, Mary Angeline was a bronze medalist when she competed in the 2017 Asian Cadet Taekwondo Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam last June 6 to 8, 2017. However, being a bronze medalist did not hinder Mary Angeline to aim higher so she did her best to be the country’s representative during the 2017 World Cadet Taekwondo Championships last August 24 to 27, 2017 in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. She bagged the gold medal and was also declared as the Most Valuable Player (MVP). Aside from that Mary Angeline was also recognized in the first Siklab Sports Youth Awards organized by the PSC-POC Media Group last June 27, 2018. Furthermore, she was also awarded as the Most Valuable Player during the 2018 Smart MVP Best of the Best Taekwondo Championships last September 1 to 2, 2018 in Ayala Malls South Park, Muntinlupa City.
So what is next for our Taekwondo champ? After her winning kicks in Palarong Pambansa, Mary Angeline will immediately fly to Manila to compete in the 14th ASEAN Taekwondo Championships in Mall of Asia on May 4 to 5, 2019. Then, she will be back in Davao for the PRISAA Competition on May 19 to 24, 2019. Next is her competition on July 22 to 23, 2019 for the 10th Asian Juniors Taekwondo Championships in Amman, Jordan.
With this kind of successes in her young life added with prayers and determination, Mary Angeline will surely land in the Olympics and hopefully with God’s blessings, she will bring home the gold and become the first Filipina in Taekwondo to win in the Olympics.
This kind of dream for young Mary Angeline will definitely come to fruition if and only if the government will give its full support to our player. As you can see Taekwondo is one of the most expensive sports especially for those players who are from the province. It is not cheap to fly to Manila for the yearly evaluation of aspiring players for the Philippine team. The transportation is not free and it is really to the disadvantage of our potential champions from the provinces. Hopefully someday even the Philippine Sports Commission will have transportation budget set aside for their players from the provinces. As for Mary Angeline Uy Alcantara, you are really an inspiration to the youth of today. Salute to your achievements and good luck to your next competitions.