By Claro A. Lanipa
In the recently concluded
2015 Zamboanga Peninsula Regional Athletic Association (ZPRAA) Meet held in
Pagadian City, the Zamboanga del Sur delegation emergedas the over-all champion
in the secondary level and second in the
elementary levelduring the four-day competition leading seven other delegations
in the region.
Apparently, this is the
product of the Provincial Sports Academy created and established by the provincial
government of Zamboanga del Sur under the initiative and strong leadership of
Governor Antonio H. Cerilleswith the primary purpose of helping develop our
potential athletes in the countryside.This program is also being supported by
the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), training athletes in the country for
future competitions in the local and international level.
Cerilles observed that at
the recent ASEAN games wherein the Philippines got only one gold medal that is
in cycling, the winner was not locally bred, but an American, though his
parents are Filipinos.
To refresh our memories, Cerillessaid,
“dating back to the 1950’s, we were either second, third in the ASEAN gamesamong
10 member-nations. We came out champion or runner-up, but sad to say the
Philippines has lagged behind in the ASEAN games – we are at 7thplace, we are
just above Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, other countries have overtaken the
Philippines.
Our country became much
more frustrated, when we participated in the Olympic Games and not achieving
even a single medal in the competition, so the government created the
Philippine Sports Commission with the hope that we will be able to develop
sports in the country.
Similarly, during the
Western Mindanao Regional Athletic Association (WMRAA) Meet in the past years, Zamboanga del Sur ranks far behind from other
provinces and cities in the region with Zamboanga City delegation always
emerging as champions.
This is one of the factors
that drove the governor to put up a sports academy in the province, to train
potential young athletes in the countryside for them to be more competitive.
With the creation of the
Provincial Sports Academy during the incumbency of Governor Antonio Cerilles in
2010, Zamboanga del Sur slowly bounced back, came out champion in 2013,
runner-up in 2014 and again champion in this year’s ZPRAA Meet.
Governor Cerilles
attributes the victories to the establishment of the Provincial Sports Academy.
Since cities have their own delegation, our potential athletes from the
province would be difficult to train in the municipalities because of the
distance. So the good governor decided to put up our own sports academy
utilizing the special education fund(SEF), provide the pre-screened
potential high school student/athletes free board and lodging, food, uniform, and all the basic necessities they need.
To date, there are 200 student athletes in the
academy, undergoing year-round training on different sports events and academics
as well. Teachers, trainors, including tutors, sociologist, phsychologist and
nutritionist were hired by the provincial government to focus on their training
and academic needs.
“We have to prepare them
not only physically but academically, because later on if they will succeed, a
scholarship will be offered to them and they will not shy-away from the offer,”
Governor Cerilles said.
Asked as to his comments on
the good performance showed by the athletes in the recently concluded ZPRAA
meet, the governor replied, “Iam happy because that is for their own good. To
give them a chance to change their lives, because most of them came from very
poor families, and second, to keep them away from dangerous drugs or any other
vices that will eventually destroy their future.”