PSC says NSA tourneys must be open to all

MANILA, Philippines – A National Open tournament that’s truly “open” to all.

This is what the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will ask every national sports association (NSA) to implement in Phl Open meets that the government will fund this year.

“Ideally, the National Open should accommodate any Filipino who wants to participate because this (tournament) is supposed to be for the Philippines and we’re using people’s money here,” PSC chairman Ricardo Garcia said.

According to him, the PSC board has observed that there are NSAs which only entertain members of affiliated clubs for their National Opens, thereby shutting the door on “outsiders.”

This, he said, could deprive some athletes from non-affiliates who have the potential to show their worth and possibly make it to the Phl team.

An example is the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association, whose president, Mark Joseph, has insisted that PASA tournaments cannot be accessed by non-PASA members since the International Swimming Federation, according to him, prohibits relationships of any nature with non-members.

The Philippine Swimming League, under the backing of former Sen. Nikki Coseteng and former national swimmer Susan Papa, contested the policy when they met with Garcia last week.

“So we’ll make it a point that the National Open should be open to all Filipinos,” he said, warning that organizing NSAs may have to look for funding elsewhere if they insist on making their Phl Opens an exclusive event.

Garcia, though, admitted that some aspirants may have to go through separate qualifying tournaments before being allowed to compete in the Open.

“We understand that there are cases in which the organizers can only accommodate a certain number of entries or have to maintain a level of standard. For this, they can hold a pre-qualifying tournament,” the PSC chief said.

Aside from being open competitions, the National Open meets of the different NSAs may soon be bunched together in a two-week or week-long sports festival of sorts, if the earlier suggestion of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will materialize.

The Opens may also be integrated into the country’s grassroots and elite programs starting with the to-be-revived Batang Pinoy youth games and culminating with the Phl National Games.