Dragonboat's future

Having proven their case by bringing home five golds and two silvers from the sport’s world championships, the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation team also strengthened its position with the national government, receiving a citation from no less than Pres. Noynoy Aquino. With the Chief Executive pledging support and Congress promising P1.4 million as a reward, the PDBF team now has resources to keep it going for a while. If success has a thousand fathers, Pres. Aquino and an appreciative Congress are now dragonboat’s adoptive uncles willing to take the sport up to the next level by breeding the next generation of champion paddlers.

It also provides a crowbar with which to pry open the door for discussions with the country’s highest sports officials, namely the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission. Their differences are, unfortunately, also paving the way for grandstanding and posturing on the sidelines by interested political personalities who would actually worsen the situation instead of making things better. Now is definitely not the time to cry for replacement of sports officials and reprimands. Now is the time for dialogue.

The first priority is for our sports governing bodies to prove that the International Olympic Committee indeed at least suggested that the sport be folded into the canoe-kayak federation for recognition. That is the central thorn of the issue, which was used as leverage against the team in the first place. Without that, it all becomes a matter of “he said, she said”, and will get nowhere. And with the tone set by the President, the next moves should be made in the spirit of reconciliation and helping the athletes.

In the past, the PSC has supported sports that are not on the Olympic calendar, and some not even played at the Southeast Asian Games. Even before dancesport was introduced in the 2005 SEA Games hosted by the Philippines, the PSC was already providing venues and other aid for the Dancesport Council of the Philippines (DSCP) ranking competitions. Dancesport is an associate (non-voting) member of the Philippine Olympic Committee. Other associate sports like muaythai are now also getting attention from the POC, and therefore, the PSC, as well. Funding, however, is generally restricted to sports in the SEA Games. A national sports association which is not part of two successive SEA Games gets its funding suspended, and also gets a downgrade. Arnis received such a sanction two years ago, when it was not included in the 2007 and 2009 SEA Games calendars.

In the case of dragonboat, there are various options to achieve a compromise. The sport may receive funding from outside sources, with the athletes not receiving their allowances. On the other hand, technically there is nothing to prevent the athletes from joining canoe-kayak, funding their own coach and training, then competing abroad independently. Naturally, it would look strange. But even the IOC allows athletes from countries experiencing internal strife to compete in the Olympic Games under the Olympic banner. The IOC, in this instance, clearly demonstrates that its priority is the welfare of the athlete. Sadly, the Philippines is the only country where sports is run by private entities and the funds are handled by a government agency. In all other IOC member countries, sports is either an entirely private endeavor, or completely under government responsibility.

Also, perhaps it would be wise if sports officials made only “official” statements representing the authorities they are part of, instead of critical personal comments disguised as official messages, or late-night text messages to members of media critical of the dragonboat team. At this point in time, these negative remarks have no place in future discussions aimed at healing. It would help project a strong, positive tone on the side of both the POC and PSC if they were to just open discussions with the dragonboat group for the sake of finding – pardon the pun – common calm seas on which to jointly paddle ahead.

Despite their overwhelming, touching success which also united the international dragonboat community, the team still faces certain challenges. First, since most of its male members are still enlisted men, they may be deployed elsewhere, rendering them unable to continue paddling for the flag.

“We are soldiers first, paddlers second,” insists team captain Usman Anterola, a veteran of past world record-setting teams as well as the newly minted world champion team. “Our priority is the peace and safety of our countrymen. Paddling only comes after.”

So the team will have to start recruiting new members, and even younger members. Contrary to criticism of the team, they may continue competing until well into their 60’s, in senior competitions. Even coaches of the US dragon boat teams have said that the Filipinos naturally do things they “would not even attempt” in the course of training and competing.

“This team’s records – especially in the 200 meters – have yet to be broken,” declares coach Anna Tario. “And having seen their latest performance, I know this team can keep going for a long time.”

The next question is what to do with the members of the team who opted to come under the canoe-kayak umbrella because they could not afford to lose their allowances. This financial strain did cause a minor rift with the other team members, but does not seem to be as big an issue as others would think. How will this be reconciled?

All in all, open discussion would be the best approach to bring together the PDBF, POC and PSC. If everyone is after the same thing as they claim, then everybody will work to ensure a smooth reconciliation. Other agendas are secondary. Our sports authorities have also expressed willingness to dialogue. All it will take now is for someone to reach across the gap first.