IN keeping with the Philippine Sports Commission’s mandate, Chairman Noli Eala intends to revive the sports development and promotion councils nationwide down to the barangay level to enhance the agency’s grassroots programs.
“We want to reactivate and strengthen the regional, provincial, city, municipal and barangay sports development and promotion councils as part of a more comprehensive grassroots program,” Eala said in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum last Tuesday.
“I understand that (former) chairman Butch (Ramirez) was not able to implement this, although it is part of the PSC mandate. This is also in the PSC mandate and was placed in the law (Republic Act 6847 that created the PSC) for a reason,” he noted.
Eala said the PSC would coordinate with the Department of Interior and Local Government and local government units all for grassroots sports-related activities “because they have the network.
“This network is very important because they have the system to disseminate the (grassroots) programs quickly in collaboration with the PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee and National Sports Associations,” he said.
Eala said the NSAs will play an integral role in grassroots sports promotion and development “because it will become like a CSR (corporate social responsibility) activity for them that will evolve into a single and unified grassroots program.”
After doing some research into the matter, Eala said he saw two pathways where promising athletes could make it to the national teams of various sports.
“One is through the control system of the education side. An athlete gets to a school, gets into a team and, if he or she stands out, will eventually land with a National Sports Association that will tap them for the national team,” he said.
On the other hand, he explained, there are promising athletes who can be recruited from outside the school ranks, “those who do not land in the formal (educational) system.
“These are the children that I want to bring to sports, to give them the opportunity with an all-encompassing grassroots program. They will be allowed first to compete in lower competitions, then play in national competitions as they get better. From there they will have a pathway to become national athletes.”
