Maximize what we have

In May of last year, the Philippine Sports Commission received a 25-hectare plot of land from the provincial government of Bataan. The site will be the Philippine Sports Training Center (PTSC) when it is completed. A beautiful elevated parcel accessible to ferries and commercial areas, it will take national athletes away from congested city centers to a more peaceful locale where they can concentrate on improving their performance. Of course, a feasibility study was first needed before any groundbreaking or construction could begin. As of now, national athletes share the facilities at Rizal Memorial Sports Center and the PhilSports complex and a handful of other venues across the country.

But RMSC was built in the art deco style even before the Philippines was a republic, and by law, cannot be renovated unless the new design matches the old. Aside from the Manila Zoo, it is probably the only large piece of property left in the city of Manila. By law, it belongs to the national government, and the PSC can stay as long as it wants. PhilSports, meanwhile, was due for a major renovation even before the pandemic broke out. A budget of over P3.2 billion is estimated to be the cost of building new facilities, the first major facelift for the place since the Marcos era. A tall athletes’ dormitory, a new swimming pool and bigger basketball or multipurpose arena will be among the structures planned.

There have been multiple sports property developments in sites around the country in recent years. In July of 2021, Valenzuela City revealed plans for a 1.2-hectare sports training center which will contain a basketball court, volleyball court, badminton area, and venues for chess, table tennis and billiards, as well as a main hall and dugouts. This will be the latest sports center after the one in New Clark City, which was used for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. There are other sports complexes like the Jose V. Yap Sports and Recreation Complex in San Jose, Tarlac, the older Narciso Ramos Complex on the beach in Lingayen, Pangasinan which was used for the Palarong Pambansa a decade ago, and Teachers Camp in Baguio City. Of course, Cebu City has its own grand dame of a sports complex in the heart of the city itself.

There are also many venues for specific sports located in schools which are of international standards, as well as the old standbys of the Araneta Coliseum and the Mall of Asia Arena. In fact, one of the programs of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is to compare facilities and best practices of colleges and universities to raise and standardize their sports competitiveness.

Given this abundance of playing and training venues, there has to be a way to maximize their usage for both the grassroots and elite athletes. The PSC already has programs for this, and many national teams train in different provinces. But with further cooperation from local government units, this could be multiplied. If the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA) were to get involved, there would be an explosion of coaches in various sports. TESDA has over 300 free courses for workers to acquire skills for local and international employment, but no sports training. If the agency were to put some of its muscle behind a few sports, we would almost immediately feel the impact.

If we can figure out how to make better and more frequent use of all of these sports facilities, we would have a stronger, healthier, more productive nation. All it takes is a little coordination and cooperation.