Philippines track bets eye Pangasinan as training hub

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) is eyeing the Narciso Ramos Sports Complex in Pangasinan as a possible training hub for the Filipinos’ Southeast Asian Games squad pending rehab of decades-old  training centers in Metro Manila 

“The national athletics team has plans of preparing for the SEA Games slowly at the Narciso Ramos Sports Complex in Lingayen, Pangasinan,” said Patafa president Philip Ella Juico, who has gotten the support of the provincial government led by Governor Amado Espino III for this arrangement. 

“We need at least a one-year period of continuity and stability especially after the PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) closed the athletes’ quarters and track ovals at Baguio, at the Philsports Complex in Pasig and at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex for its long overdue rehabilitation,” he added.

Filipino tracksters fell short of medals in the Asian Games but Juico noted the improved standings of stalwarts like Kristina Knott, EJ Obiena, Eric Cray and the 4X100m relay team and stressed that if they get all the needed support, the tracksters have a shot at a record-matching haul in the SEAG.

“Performance in the SEA Games or any mother major Olympic-type event depends to a large degree on making available the appropriate resources at the right time. With our combined homegrown and Fil-heritage athletes like Eric Cray, Trenten Beram, Kristina Knott, Carter Lilly and Natalie Uy and given the right resources for nutrition, scientific training and coaching, international exposure and proper psychological motivation, we would have had the proper combination if more financial support comes our way,” he said.

“If all or most of these ingredients to the winning formula are available to Patafa, there should be greater chances of our equalling or even surpassing the record 13-gold medal haul in the 1983 SEA Games,” Juico said.

As part of the SEAG buildup, the athletics boss said the squad will compete in the National Athletics Championships and Asian Youth Championships to be held in Ilagan, Isabela in March 2019, the Asian Championships in Doha, Qatar in April, and the World Relays and World Championships also in the Qatari capital in September.

“All these tough competitions are preparations for the 2019 SEA Games where our athletes will be performing before the huge home crowd,” said Juico.

The athletics boss, meanwhile, noted that despite the strong opposition offered by powerhouses like China, Japan, Korea and Qatar, the Phl team did well in the Asiad.