Right after the re-election of Mark Joseph as president of the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association, his regional director Deedee Gonzalez buckled down to work with two events lined-up in Mindanao.
Gonzalez, who sits in the board of directors, said that the Mindanao Area G-League Long Course Meet Series kicks off with its first leg on May 15 to 16 at the Emmanuel Pelaez Sports Complex in Cagayan de Oro City and the Gen. Santos City leg on June 19 to 20 at the Acharon Sports Complex in Gen. Santos City.
She said the competitions are part of the grassroots program designed to discover talented swimmers who will be trained to represent the country in international competitions sanctioned by the world’s governing body for swimming, FINA.
Gonzalez, who, like other regional directors, spent her own money to support the sport they love, defended Joseph’s recent election last April 24 after it was criticized by rival organization, ASAP, by describing the latter as a “sham”.
“The Region 11 Swimming Association supports the leadership and management of Mr. Mark Joseph as the new president-elect of the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association, Inc. We believe in the legitimacy of his presidency and of PASA Inc. in general. The new name of PASA, now the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association Inc., has been approved and recognized by the Federation Internacional de Natation (FINA), the Asia Swimming Federation (ASF), the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), and the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC),” she said in an e-mail. [Moses P. Billacura]
The region’s swimming association, she pointed out, stands on its thrust of spearheading and organizing swimming competitions in the Region in accordance with PASA’s National G-League (Grassroots) Program through its various PASA-member clubs.
Edge Davao–the Business Paper–e-mailed to Evangelista Aquatics and Sports Management Inc. president Darren Evangelista, an ASAP official based in Davao, to react on the report published in Manila, but there was no reply.
