YOU want unity, you got it. Sports unity, I mean.
That’s the meat of Joey Romasanta’s brilliant brainchild to put up a permanent secretariat for Philippine sports.
Joey knows where he speaks of.
Before being appointed spokesman of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), Joey was a fixture in sports. At one time, he headed the Gintong Alay.
Think about it: How come it’s only now that the idea came along?
For decades now, Philippine sports had been wracked by enmity and acrimony.
Like, each time a national team is needed for international competition, there’s so much dissension before the delegation finally gets assembled.
It happens mostly when the SEA, Asian and Olympic Games are around the corner.
Cramming has been the name of the game.
Suddenly, officials become like headless chickens, running to and fro looking for some guidance, if not dough.
Meanwhile, as they go about their mindless ways for lack of strategic direction, the athletes are usually left in the dark—thrown in the altar of indecision, if not
indiscretion.
With Joey’s idea, the secretariat is the go-to body, the one and only house for refuge.
The buck stops there.
Perhaps, Joey had thought of this marvelous idea because he himself is now in the midst of preparing our country for the Asian Games in China in November.
As the Asiad’s chief of mission for the country, Joey holds the unenviable job of putting together people of different shapes and sizes, of different minds and moods.
I’m sure Joey has cleared his idea with Peping Cojuangco, his boss, who is the country’s Olympic chief.
Already, Joey’s gotten the nod of Richie Garcia, the newly-minted head of the Philippine Sports Commission.
Said Richie: “Rather than form a task force for every event...it’s better [to have a permanent secretariat] because we can continue the meetings, develop experience and get used to the mechanics and requirements involved.”
With Richie as a known loyal ally of Peping’s, the days of fighting and bickering between PSC and POC are over.
And for sports overall, the days of wine and roses are here—finally?
(alsol47@yahoo.com)