HAVING had previous experience with the new athletic chief’s leadership style, Edward Kho said he did not entertain second thoughts when he was appointed as the new secretary general of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association by Patafa president Terry Capistrano.
“I am aware of sir Terry’s style when we worked together during the Tokyo Olympic Games so it was a no-brainer for me to accept the position of secretary general,” said Kho, who served as the manager of the national athletics squad in Tokyo while Capistrano was the delegation chief.
“If it was someone else, I might have turned the position down but sir Terry is not an easy man to turn down,” added Kho, who is currently an assistant professor with the UP Diliman College of Human Kinetics.
“Athletics is also my first love so that also figured in my decision to accept the appointment,” added the former UP Diliman varsity track and field athlete.
Kho said that he aims to apply the lessons that he has learned as a scholar of the International Olympic Academy, the Athens-based educational institution of the International Olympic Company located near the ancient archaeological site of Olympia, Greece.
“I will be able to apply the management principles that we learned from the IOA, especially when it comes to international relations,” said the new Patafa sec-gen, who is completing his Masters in Olympic Studies and Management with the IOA.
“I began the course in 2019 but had to stop due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed it early this year,” he said. “I hope to submit my thesis from the Philippines during my last semester before the yearend.”
Kho said that his marching orders from Capistrano, who will serve the remaining term of his predecessor, Philip Ella Juico, until late next year, is to move forward and build on what the local athletics body has achieved so far.
“As a businessman, our new president is leaving up to me when it comes to the day-to-day decisions involving Patafa as long as he is kept aware of the major developments. He is not a micromanager,” he explained.
Among the Patafa projects that Capistrano asked him to oversee, Kho said, is the revival of it weekly relays that resumed over the weekend at the Philsports track oval with the approval of the Philippine Sports Commission.
“The Patafa weekly relays will run for 15 weekends and, hopefully, will be a vehicle anew of discovering new athletic talents while keeping our national team in competitive shape,” he said.
