Lester Castillo, Milo sports executive during today’s virtual presser for Milo’s latest slogan. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines— The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to a halt almost all that was considered normal before. Big businesses closed, the economy spiraled and everything was in chaos. From the ordinary farmer to corporate bigwigs, to educators and even athletes, no one was spared from the scourge that would be known as COVID-19.
The pandemic has also shut down gyms and sporting venues and has restricted public movement and activities. Everyone was advised to stay at home.
This has become a huge problem for athletes, coaches, and trainers, who are left idle as the pandemic raged to its second year.
Milo’s latest slogan, “Mula Noon Hanggang Ngayon, Tuloy Ang Pagiging Champion,” is a message designed to challenge the Filipino youth to rise above adversities and misfortunes and conquer hardships brought about by the health scare.
Over the years, Milo has been tirelessly supporting the Filipino youth with its multiple sports programs. And this time when restrictions immobilize almost everyone, Milo is pivoting its program to the digital platform in a bid to address the void.
Although it has already reaped success, it is still hounded by a difficult challenge—- slow internet connection.
Despite the Philippines’ significant improvements in the Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index by placing 92nd in the fixed-line internet speed and 83rd in the mobile download speed, Milo Sports Executive Lester Castillo and his team still feel the dragging effects of slow internet connection.
“The biggest challenge for us until today is the unavailability of internet connectivity in many parts of the country and the slow internet speed. I guess nakatali lahat ng kamay ng mga organizers in bringing the sports to everyone. We need to keep everyone safe which is our top priority that is why we organize our sports program online, Castillo said.
“However, our country is still gearing up with the right technology to bring everyone internet access. Our biggest challenge is the slow interrupted internet connection which prevents us from bringing our program to a wide array of Filipinos,” added Castillo.
Milo, led by Castillo, officially launched their newest slogan, the “Mula Noon Hanggang Ngayon, Tuloy Ang Pagiging Champion,” in a virtual presser today, March 24, 2021.
He was joined by two generations of Filipino swimming greats in former two-time Olympian Ral Rosario and 2019 Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) silver medalist Maurice Sacho Ilustre along with long-time Milo Marathon and Milo Little Olympics organizer Ricky Ballesteros.
MESSAGE OF MOTIVATION
Milo’s newest slogan wants to encourage all Filipinos to remain active and healthy at home despite the pandemic.
“It’s not really a program but a message to help encourage Filipinos to find ways to still be active,” said Castillo. “We need to encourage parents to get their children active at home.”
“The message is very relevant with the ongoing pandemic. Even if there’s a pandemic, it doesn’t mean to put a roof over the Filipino youth’s ambitions with their champion journey. Malaki ang role ng magulang to guide the youth with their champion journeys that is why Milo is here to continue nurturing their dreams with our sports program geared towards the digital platform,” Castillo stressed.
Milo is a huge benefactor in many of the country’s sports programs. Each year, Milo organizes different sporting events; the Milo Little Olympics, a multi-sporting meet happening in different regions in the country along with the Milo BEST basketball tournament, the grand National Milo Marathon, as well as other minor sports programs which already catered to more than a million Filipinos in the grassroots level and produced countless world-class Filipino athletes.
MASSIVE IMPACT
Despite the slow internet connectivity in the country, Milo’s digital sports programs billed as “Milo Homecourt” and the “Milo Sports Interactive Online Classes” garnered a whopping 50 million views on its YouTube channel and has catered to more than 40,000 Filipino youths since it started last year.
Milo Homecourt is a self-learning module uploaded online through videos featuring 50 sports, each with four instructional videos. All of the instructional videos are curated by veteran coaches and athletes such as Olympian Mary Joy Tabal. It aims to help parents with their tools and content to allow their children to learn new sports even at home.
Upon witnessing the success of the program, many coaches and sports organizers from other sports reached out to Castillo and his team to join them.
“It expanded our program greatly because many coaches now want to become part of it. We are already planning to add more sports particularly wushu, jiujitsu, boxing, and kurash,” said Castillo. “We also got the support from the PSC, POC, and DepEd. It resonated positively and we are very hopeful to expand the program this year.”
The Milo Sports Interactive Online Classes, meanwhile, is focused on bringing sports to all Filipino youth. It allows them to train at home using Milo’s sports modules and interactive training sessions. It also helps their instructors earn money since there is a registration fee for each participant.
“When the on-ground clinics were gone, nawala ang revenue ng mga coaches, but with interactive online classes, nagpatuloy ang income nila. Although it’s not as big, Hindi naman sila zero sa income nila,” Castillo said.
In fact, they already piloted two online tournaments in taekwondo and athletics last year. They are planning to hold a bigger online tournament this year involving more sports.
SEEING THE SILVER LINING
Castillo and his team are very optimistic that one day they can organize on-ground sporting events anew. But, it doesn’t mean their digital sports programs will end there. They already see the silver lining where they want their on-ground sports events and their digital sports programs to coexist in the future. Because of its positive results, plans are now afoot to expand their digital sports programs in the future.
“No one expected for the pandemic to happen. Walang users manual, we are learning along the way. We are happy to share with everyone what we learned given the transition from sports to digital. It became accessible to a lot of Pinoys. It reached 50 million views combined. it’s a learning experience for us. So, when the time comes pwede na to organize on-ground sports events, we intend to implement also our digital sports programs. We want them to coexist,” said Castillo.
In the meantime, young Filipino athletes still have to wait a bit longer. A wait that would be surely be all worth it as Castillo assured that Milo has a lot in store for them this year. /rcg