LGUs can help promising athletes break into national teams

FERNANDEZ

PROMISING athletes will no longer have to solely rely on National Sports Associations (NSAs) to be part of a national team.

Local government units (LGU) will have a chance to help their own talents to make it to the national team under the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI), whose main program is to have a “true, genuine talent identification program” starting from the community.

This program will be discussed when the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) convenes the Physical Fitness and Sports Development Council in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The Visayas stop will be held in Cebu on March 14, revealed PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who met a group of sportswriters from Cebu last Monday.

Fernandez said that athletes who got rejected by a certain NSA despite their potential can turn to the LGU to break into the national team.

“Para di na macompromise ang athletes, duna nay daghan katabang ang athletes sa grassroots because let’s face it, the athletes, they belong to barangays, towns and provinces, di ba, naa jud ang talent didto (So the athletes will not be compromised, our grassroots athletes will be getting help because let’s face it, the athletes, they belong to barangays, towns and provinces, the talents are really from there),” said Fernandez.

Fernandez added promising athletes need not to wait to be part of the training pool so they could train or compete abroad.

“They can approach PSC for financial assistance,” Fernandez said.

The crackdown on erring NSAs will also continue, said Fernandez.

Fernandez reiterated that the deadline for all NSAs to submit their liquidation report to the PSC is May 16.

Those who fail to submit liquidation reports will be stripped of financial support from PSC.