VIRTUAL seminars and forums are no longer new these days. But the online National Sports Summit slated to kick off on January 27 would be the first of its kind as it would bring about 1,000 sports educators, athletes, coaches, LGU coordinators, national sports associations, and private stakeholders together.
The summit, which was scheduled last year, had to be postponed due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. Yet, the Philippine Sports Commission no longer sees the need to further delay it.
PSC, in a statement, will organize a three-part program with a series of weekly online conference-type sessions dubbed as "Sports Conversations."
The January 27 launch will have United Sports Academy (USSA) President T.J. Rosandich, Philippine Sports Institute (PSI) Dean of Philippine Sports Henry Daut, Davao del Norte Sports Development head Giovanni Gulanes, and UP professor Tessa Jazmines as guests.
PSC Chairman William "Butch" Ramirez said, "We wanted to push through with this because we know it will be useful to know where we are now from where we were almost three decades ago. It will help see the road ahead of us and navigate it better."
While the 1st National Sports Summit held in 1992 led to the crafting of 38 resolutions, the 2021 edition will cover 25 sports topics. Data from this sessions, as per Sir Butch, "will be studied and processed, and shall be the foundation of a new set of resolutions hoped to be useful for our future sports leaders, legislators, and national officials who contribute to the betterment of sports in the country."
I, for one, will not let this opportunity pass. I personally met Dr. Rosandich when Chairman Butch brought him to a brief meeting with other Davao sportswriters at the Marco Polo Hotel where they both signed the Protocol for Cooperation to strengthen programs in elite and grassroots sports through the continuing education of coaches and administrators.
Kuya Giovanni has been a vital force in DavNor sports while Prof. Henry, well, he's an expert in physical education and an esteemed resource speaker in international conferences. Mam Tessa is also a respected figure in the sports industry.
Hoping that more Mindanaoan and Dabawenyo stakeholders join the series of conferences lined up for this virtual national sports summit.