Phil. Softball Team?s Quandary mulled at SCOOP
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Mar 2012
The disbandment of the Philippine men?s and women?s softball teams might continue draining the country of talents needed in future international competitions.
This was revealed by Amateur Softball-Philippines operations manager Jun Veloso, who during yesterday?s SCOOP Sa Kamayan weekly session, disclosed that neighboring countries in Southeast Asia have continuously been luring members of the national teams with good jobs and good pays to play for them.
This, according to Veloso, who appeared as guest in the forum, sponsored by Coca Cola Export, ACTV 5, FILA and UNTV, is an offshoot of the Philippine Sports Commission?s decision relegating softball to the list of rebuilding sports along with 24 other disciplines.
Already, Brunei has sent words of its interest in recruiting Blu Boy Apol Rosales and Blu Girl Esmeralda Tayag, mainstays of the Philippines retaining the men?s and women?s softball competitions in the last SEA Games, to play in that country as well as help in its ambitious development program aimed at becoming at par with the Filipinos in the regional level.
Philippine amateur Baseball Association president Hector Navasero, who was also in the SCOOP session, shared Veloso?s sentiment, saying the move by the PSC will, definitely, retard PABA?s program of at least retaining the Philippines? top rating in Southeast Asia.
?Our ASA-Phil president, Mr. Jean Henri Lhuillier, though has appealed the PSC decision dropping us from the list of 10 priority sports and if such appeal falls on deaf ears, we can no longer stop both Apol and Esme from leaving us,? Veloso told members of the Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines.
?This because once dismantled, members of the team will no longer receive their allowances and they will be ejected from their billeting area,? he added. ?Losing our best players will also affect our program to, not only maintain our standing in the Southeast Asian ranking, but, likewise, our goal of regaining our once lofty standing in the Asian and world brackets,? Veloso stressed.
The Philippines had actually lost no less than seven of its first nine players to overseas assignments the first time the two softball teams were, likewise disbanded in 2009. They are Lovelyn Maganda, Syrel Ramos, Kare Aribal, Emily Bacarisas and Gedda Valencia who are now in Brunei, Belen Asok who is in Italy and Nimfa Baral in Singpore.
?Hindi na bumalik ang mga yan kasi magganda na ang lagay. Me trabaho na at malaki ang suweldo, nakapaglalaro pa. Dito sa atin, inalisan na ng suweldoi, paalisin pa sa tirahan,? he bewailed.
?It?s really sad to think that while other countries are acknowledging the talents of our players, here in their own country, they are regarded as thrash,? Veloso lamented.
?Being in the rebuilding sports, we are only entitled to a measly P3 million budget a year and that amount is, definitely not enough to fund even our participation in the Asian men?s championship scheduled October this year in Japan and the ASEAN championship for women in ?September in Indonesia.
?And what about our regular tournaments scheduled yearly like the National Open and the Philippine National Games?? Veloso asked. ?They want us to come up with programs but they don?t give us the funding,?
Besides, their unblemished records in the SEA Games, the Blu Girls, likewise, been ranked third in the world when they ended up with the bronze medal in the 1970 world championship and fourth in 1974. The Blu Boys, on the other hand, had also won the Asian championshiup thrice and wound up fourth in the 1968 world championship.
Like ASA-Phil, Navasero said the P3 million budget allotted to PABA by the PSC will not go far as far as the national team?s in coming international competitions are concerned.
?The Philippines, as an active member of the BFA (Baseball Federation of Asia), is committed to take part in this year?s Asia Cup in August, the Asian championship in November as well as the World Cup qualifying, also later this year,? Navasero rattled in.
?We are also embarking on a grass root development program that will see PABA bringing baseball to the provinces by conducting tournaments there in the elementary and high school level,? Navasero said, adding products of those tournaments will form the core of the national teams to the BFA?s Single ?A? and Double ? A? youth programs.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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