OLYMPIAN swimmer Ral Rosario and 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games swimming silver medalist Maurice Sacho Ilustre lauded Milo's "Mula Noon, Hanggang Ngayon -- Tuloy ang Pagiging Champion" campaign that aims to show parents and encourage their children to start their athletic journeys at home despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a Zoom press launch held Wednesday, March 24, Rosario said the home quarantine due to the pandemic caused the disturbance of the athletes' routine.
"Dati, they wake up, workout, go to school, train, go home and study. Now, the whole thing is distracted. Some of them get demotivated since the routine has been distracted. It's important that we go back to what the athletes do before, how they came about achieving and surpassing their challenges," Rosario said, which was the concept of Milo's latest 46-second video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCdVLIFtbrM
Ilustre, who is set to compete in the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2021 in Hanoi, Vietnam, recalled how he started swimming in the Milo Little Olympics and from there, began his champion journey. His father side, according to him, are all swimmers.
Ilustre said, "Being an athlete requires you to be consistent. We need to have that routine, the consistency in order to achieve our goals. Currently, merong distractions. Pero ang message ng ‘Mula Noon, Hanggang Ngayon,’ is trying to make ways mag-training at home para makapag-training pa rin."
He urged athletes to "set a mini goal as it will help you set up your bigger goal." Say, setting a goal of 10 push-ups a week or for some, 100 push-ups, which will eventually increase as time goes by. As a swimmer, according to him, push-ups help strengthen his core or upper body.
"Mini goals will help you achieve your big goals," Ilustre reiterated, encouraging athletes to always remember why they even started with their sport. Remembering his swimming idols, who are SEA Games medalists and Olympians, always motivates him to continue training as he also wants to follow in their footsteps.
Nestle Philippines-Milo Assistant Vice President Lester Castillo, for his part, said that `Mula Noon, Hanggang Ngayon -- Tuloy ang Pagiging Champion' is not a program but a message to encourage children and athletes to continue their champion journeys at home.
He cited Milo's digital-based programs.
"We came up with the Milo Home Court, with power tools and content that will help parents allow their children stay active at home. The Milo Sports Clinics Online features self-training modules with sports instructional videos of 15 different sports. There are four instructional videos for each sport na ang nagtuturo are coaches and some national athletes and former and current Olympians. The Milo sports interactive online classes are online sports clinics where students enroll just like in our on-ground sports clinics before," Castillo said.
The Milo Home Court has generated about 50 million views with 35 million engagement while the alternative online classes recorded a total of 40,000 enrollees.
Among the Olympians who took part in the instructional videos were marathoner Mary Joy Tabal and boxing coach Roel Velasco.
Aiba Women's World Boxing Championship 2019 gold medalist Nesthy Alcayde Petecio, who recently earned a slot in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, was also among the instructors.