The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines is curently staging its Mindanao eliminations, and a huge record field has entered. On June 3, 23 teams and 189 boxers started fighting in 157 bouts in 32 different weight classes, all numbers unheard of in amateur boxing in the country.
ABAP chairman Manny Pangilinan and president Ricky Vargas have already laid out the plans for a long-term development program with a single aim: to win an Olympic gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics. Because of the urgency of the mission, the net is being cast wide to include as many potential talents as possible, reminiscent of the Philippine Sports Commission?s Talent Identification Program (TIP) years ago. Smart Communications has put the monetary muscle behind the endeavor.
The corporate team approach has worked in managing the ABAP thus far.
The only question will be if ABAP can maintain its policy of being all-inclusive, and avoid the politics that pervades Philippine sports.
So far, ABAP has not been in the headlines for anything other than its projects and accomplishments, a very good sign.
Training centers are already being eyed in key cities, some of which are not main business or tourism hubs, but areas where many talented boxers have been coming from the past years. So far, everyone has been pitching in, and the organization has remained externally apolitical.
Let?s keep our fingers crossed.
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On another front, the Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU) is hosting the Division 3 Asian Five Nations (A5N) Rugby Tournament at the Makati University Stadium on July 1 and 4. The Asian Five Nations is an annual international rugby union competition held between the top 26 Asian sides. The A5N, formed by the Asian Rugby Football Union, features four levels of competition: the Top 5, Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3. The Philippines, Guam, Indonesia and Iran were recently promoted from Development Levels to the newly formed Division 3 of the tournament.
?This has been quietly going on for the last four years, this constant improvement and development,? says national coach Matt Cullen. ?We have seen the growth of many Filipino players, to the point that there are very few foreigners on the national teams now.?
The A5N tournament is unique in the world of rugby. Aside from featuring both promotion and relegation it is the qualification tournament for entry into the Rugby World Cup from the 26 rugby playing nations of Asia. The PRFU was officially established in the Philippines in 1999 by expatriate teams. The PRFU efforts have now become very popular locally, with over half the teams involved being Filipino.
?It is certainly a privilege to be chosen to host the 2009 series here. The PRFU would like to display to its Asian neighbors and to the rest of the international public that the Philippines is well and able to host international events such as the Asian Five Nations in a notable and professional manner,? Cullen added.
Aside from a strong men?s team, PRFU has also developed a very strong youth team, and many women?s teams, which are, ironically, moving up faster, because there is less competition.
