OF all the new mayors assuming office in Metro Cebu, it is the administrations of Talisay City Mayor Samsam Gullas and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Ahong Chang that I’m really interested in when it comes to sports. Cebu City has a proven and tested Cebu City Sports Commission, while Jonas Cortes has already announced he will pursue the planned Mandaue City Sports Center.
As for Lapu-Lapu City, I’ve always wanted to know what the new mayor would do with the Ironman, but it seems they are still too busy establishing their offices. As for Gullas, we all know the young social media savvy mayor is a sports fan and I wanted to know what he can offer to the table once he assumes office.
And so far, he’s making the right moves from my point of view.
Pegged as a basketball guy by critics, who may have seen only one facet of his personality, Gullas decided to call for a sports summit in Talisay City while meeting with the Aquastars, the city’s two-time champion in the Governor’s Cup. It won’t happen right away as there are many things the new mayor has to address in Talisay--traffic, flooding and garbage among them--but it will eventually happen.
He hopes to gather all the stakeholders in Talisay City to map their sports program under his term, but that’s not the only thing I admire about his move.
He said he believes the primary target in sports should be one thing--to get that athletic scholarship. It’s a belief that I share and that I’ve told many who have bothered to listen.
And I hope the people invited in the Sports Summit in Talisay will have the same thing in mind and will be able to craft policies and practices with the same goal.
There are many things a sports program in an local government unit (LGU) can do, and they are all good from different perspectives. However, for me, there are still so many good things an LGU sports program can achieve if it operates under this goal--to get a constituent that athletic scholarship.
We all know every summer or post-season, coaches in the college leagues in Manila and Cebu are doing informal recruiting, going through their contacts to get in touch with potential players, and perhaps a Talisay City initiative can help this get along by gathering the coaches who are searching for recruits in a one-day tournament for their sport.
My favorite example is athletics. Anyone can run, jump and throw things and I’ve heard of coaches discover diamonds in the rough and mold them into champions who have graduated thanks to an athletic scholarship. Want more concrete examples? Mary Joy Tabal’s first race was done with the Olympian wearing a mini-skirt, while the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu’s athletic program started with athletes involved in other sports.
A one-day gathering may not yield those recruits but it can also be a venue for an exchange of knowledge. The coaches who are searching could offer insights on how to develop these raw talents.
Like I said, there are many things a sports program can do especially if such program doesn’t search for a gold medal as its primary objective.