Filipino medalists in the last Asian Games in Jakarta attended and spoke during the recent budget hearing in the senate chaired by Sen. Sonny Angara that tackled the financial requirements of the Philippine Sports Commission.
I will not identify them anymore. Their collective plaint was for the government agency to provide national athletes a “core team,” sports facilities and stable allowances, among others.
By “core team,” this was meant to be a support squad composed of a psychologist, nutritionist, a physical therapist to meet the needs of the athletes.
The speaker, a gold medalist, said “athletes should not be left alone,” competing by themselves.
Another one, a bronze medalist, intoned that the PSC has been remiss in giving the athletes stable allowances, noting that cuts were imposed by the sports authorities which were yet to be reimbursed until today.
Others talked about sports facilities which are a must in the training and preparation of athletes due to take part in highly-competitive, organized tournaments such as the Asian Games, World Championships and the Olympics.
These are valid issues. But I must let you know that many athletes in the payroll of the PSC have developed a kind of an employee mindset.
Why did I say this?
Because athletes who are training under the PSC oftentimes get themselves psychologically upset when the allowances they get from the government could not satisfy the family needs.
As I have discovered, it turns out that parents have begun to rely on the allowance of their athlete son (or daughter as the case may be) such that when a financial problem in the family arises, the athlete is burdened psychologically and his/her training (and eventual performance) is hampered and negatively affected. (A Class A athlete receives P40,000/month allowance.)
This mentality of parents treating their children-athletes as income earners (even breadwinners, would you believe?) is not the spirit by which RA 6847 gave birth to the Philippine Sports Commission.
This employee consciousness has been what I saw for my many decades of covering the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex where majority of the athletes are billeted and where many of the gyms allotted to the different NSAs are located.
I do not wish to accuse athletes enlisted in the national roster that they are more motivated by the allowances they get than being prouder to compete and win honors for the country first and foremost. But treating this as compensation for wearing the national uniform and for representing the country in international sports festivals is something that is not pleasing to the ears.
The PSC, if you don’t know it yet, reviews the performances of all athletes. It grades you, say from a high of ten to a low of zero. When an athlete’s performance dips, the PSC downgrades him/her from, say Class A to Class B, and so on. Thus, allowances of athletes are cut down when he/she is downgraded.
The P245.3 million funding submitted by the PSC for Senate approval, I personally think, is too small. Why?
Because competitions abroad (Asiad, world championships, Olympics) are now getting stiffer and stiffer. Notice that records are always getting broken.
The PSC needs to hire the best coaches (local and foreign) if Filipino athletes want to excel in the world. This means we need more money to get the best tutors. No money, no honey…I mean, no gold.
Motivators and inspirational coaches are two of the much-needed links that should complete the chain. Remember, everything starts in the mind.
What it conceives, the body achieves. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
