Tiny boxer Mark Anthony Barriga?s first round victory over an Italian boxer in the preliminaries of the Olympic competitions is the only happy note in what is expected to be another fruitless foray into the search for medals in sports? Show of Shows.
Overcoming a 4-inch deficiency in height, the 19-year-old kid from Panabo City, Davao del Norte province, hammered a one-sided 17-7 points victory over Italy?s Manuel Cappai. The win kept the country?s hopes for an Olympic medal alive even as the other members of the token Philippine delegation fell by the wayside one by one in the face of superior athletic performances by other nations.
From there, Mark Anthony needs at least two more wins to assure himself, and the whole country of over 100 million sports enthusiasts, of at least a bronze.
But even if Mark Anthony would come up short of expectations, his appearance and first win in the London Olympics are concrete proofs of what a focused grassroots sports program could produce.
I do not want to take away the credit from the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) leadership under business mogul Manny Pangilinan whose people are running the ABAP. Certainly, the ABAP played an important role in fine-tuning Barriga from a raw provincial boxer to an outstanding Olympian that he is now.
But I also do not want ABAP to grab all of the credits for the achievements of the young Mark Anthony.
Behind Mark Anthony and the other boxer who almost made it to the Olympics, Charlie Suarez, is a sound grassroots boxing program started by former Davao del Norte Congressman Tonyboy Floreindo.
Tonyboy, whose family owns the vast Tadeco banana plantation in Davao del Norte, the country?s biggest banana farm, started the grassroots boxing program only about six years ago after I, and I say this in all modesty but with factual accuracy, convinced him to get involved with amateur boxing.
He did and tasked a trusted lieutenant, Generose Ferrazzini, to handle the program. Together, they built the Panabo City Amateur Boxing team which competed under the team names Barangay UNA and Panabo City.
Young kids were recruited into the program and given the support that only a very rich businessman like Tonyboy could provide. The boxers stayed in one compound and were sent to school.
Discipline was one of the core values taught by Generose. Youngsters, who did not follow the standards of discipline set, were sent home. In a few years after it was established, Barangay UNA and Panabo City Boxing teams were dominating the national competitions.
The other products of the program aside from Barriga and Suarez, are the Saludar brothers, one of whom is already making a name as a professional boxer.
In spite all of these achievements, Tonyboy has remained in the background, never even claiming credit for producing boxers like Barriga who now stand out as the country?s only hope in ending the Olympic medal drought.
But from the quiet corner of this very private person, who, with the recent death of his father, Don Antonio, inherited a vast and huge agricultural business empire, a lesson is being put forward: The Philippines could produce outstanding athletes, and even a potential gold medalist in the Olympics, if sound grassroots programs in sports are initiated and supported by well-meaning individuals.
I hope and pray that Mark Anthony Barriga will overcome the odds and win a medal in the London Olympics so that Tony-boy Floreindo?s dream of contributing to the country?s efforts to win an Olympic gold would be realized.
Then the Floreindo lesson in focus and grassroots sports development will be complete.
