"A NOBLE MISSION"
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 02 Mar 2010
We were privileged to be invited to the residence of the very likable British Ambassador Stephen Lillie for a rather unique event in which the internationally respected British company G4S introduced the young Filipino boxer it had chosen to become a member of its G4S 4 Teen team with the ultimate goal of achieving success in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
G4S is the world’s leading international security solutions group that has over 600,000 employees and operates in over one hundred countries and only last week opened its Philippine headquarters in Makati.
21 year old Charly Suarez, an outstanding featherweight from the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines national pool who won a gold medal at the last Southeast Asian Games in Laos and fought impressively in the World Championships in Milan was formally presented to around 200 distinguished guests last Friday evening in an affair that reflected a most welcome approach by an outstanding international company of giving back something to the country and ultimately the community in which it does business.
There can be no more meaningful gesture than the choice of sports to give substance to this noble mission because sports in a sense is all-encompassing. Not only does it cut across all economic, social, religious and ethnic backgrounds it extols the values and virtues of discipline, dedication, hard work, fair play and sportsmanship.
Suarez himself is one of the best examples of the embodiment of all that G4S is striving to achieve in this program where it has selected 14 different athletes from 13 countries to effectively carry the torch of this program that must surely set fire to the flame of inspiration in all of us who love sports and the men and women who engage in sports, with remarkable passion.
Top photo: Charly Suarez (R) interviewed by the author.
Richard Morgas (R), Director of Communications G4S, interviewed by the author.
When we spoke to Charly that evening, he struck us as being soft-spoken, decent, well-mannered and clearly ready and willing to make the sacrifices necessary in order to succeed.
For sure, the quest for an Olympic gold medal is no easy task. Boxing itself is a difficult sport that demands so much from an individual aside from fundamental skill and courage. In the Olympics the luck of the draw can play a major part in determining the end result as well as of course, the judging which we are pleased to say has improved vastly under the new leadership of the International Amateur Boxing Association –AIBA-compared to the dubious if not corrupt system that was in place under the previous dispensation.
Here at home, with the eminent businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan as chairman and one of his trusted top executives Ricky Vargas as president with colleagues Ed Picson and Pato Gregorio doing the groundwork as it were, boxing in the Philippines has reached a new level of accomplishment behind a well-thought-out program which draws on the essential and valued support of local government officials such as Governor Oscar Moreno and Mayor Charles Hagedorn to name just two fine gentlemen.
To us the most memorable moment of that equally memorable evening was the chance to once again meet one of the greatest athletes of all-time. Haile Gebrselaisse of Ethiopia whose smashing gold medal victory in the 10,000 meters at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 we had the privilege of covering along with former POC president Cristy Ramos for the government network NBN 4 whose team was headed by longtime friend Ramy Diez who ranks, in our minds , as the finest TV station manager of a glorious era in Philippine television.
Haile and I retraced the steps of that incredible gold medal race and reached out to each other in a warm embrace. We both remembered, just as we recalled his epic 10,000 meter victory four years later in Sydney in one of the classic races of our time. The little Ethiopian Haile with every single stride down the stretch, every sinew in his small frame stretched to the limit, overcame the tall, majestic Kenyan Paul Tergart and breasted the tape a fraction of a second ahead to claim the gold medal. It was an enthralling race that will be etched in our individual and collective memories beyond a lifetime.
Those races, our embrace in remembering, in essence epitomized what the entire G4S program is all about – bringing people together and building meaningful and lasting relationships among individuals and communities stretched across a wonderful world.
As we drove away from Ambassador Lillie’s residence the words of Charly Suarez whose mother didn’t want him to take up boxing kept ringing in our memory – “I told my mother I am doing this for you and for my country.” Noble thoughts from a fine young example of a true Filipino son, brought to the fore by G4S which surely has earned our respect for what it seeks to do.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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