Samante: PSC Hall of Fame 2021

Samante: PSC Hall of Fame 2021

NOTHING cements one's legacy than being enshrined into a hall of fame. This 2021, the Philippine Sports Commission will be enshrining 10 more athletes into the PSC Hall of Fame.

The 2021 Hall of fame inductees are: Paulinho Alcantara (Football), Eric Buhain (Swimming), Dionisio Calvo (coach basketball), Ariadne Cerdena (bowling), Robert Jaworksi (basketball), Gertrudes Lizada (swimming), Elma Muros (athletics), Rogelio Onofre (athletics), Leopoldo Serrantes (boxing) and Roel Velasco (boxing).

This generation is fortunate to have witnessed several of this hall of famers perform and compete at their peak. I am familiar with four of the 10 inductees and lucky to have worked with one, Coach Elma, during my stint in the PSC.

Growing up, these four were household names during the SEA Games, Olympics, and the PBA.

Buhain, Muros, and Velasco were names I would generally read in the dailies then. And, of course, the Big J, PBA's living legend. I was still able to catch him with Gordon's Gin.

I mentioned that I have worked with Coach Elma in the PSC. She is such a warm person and very easy to work with. We were both serving the PSI then.

I wish I have seen Coach Dionisio Calvo's exploits in the hardcourt and beyond among the inductees. Among his many achievements is being enshrined in the Fiba Hall of Fame. He is the only Filipino so far in that hall of fame. He was the coach of the Philippine team during the inaugural Olympic basketball event in Berlin in 1936. He led the team to a fifth-place finish, still the highest finish of any Asian team in the Olympics to date. He also became the first Fiba Asia Cup secretary-general. He is the first coach to be honored in the PSC Hall of Fame.

I wasn't even born when he passed away, but learning about his accomplishments made me yearn to see his handiwork.

The PSC is on the right track in honoring our sports heroes. It will add to the collective sports' history of the country. Sadly, not many are into sports these days as much as we were then.

While the PSC is yet to decide on the actual enshrinement date, I wish that these honorees' exploits be shared for the new generation of sportspeople. The only way for us to advance is to recognize those who built the foundations for us.

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