The other day I was watching the news on TV. One of the stories was that there was a lady who is entering the weightlifting competition in the coming Olympics in Beijing. She will be the first Filipina to compete in weightlifting in an Olympic Games. At the end of the story they said that her entrance into the games brought the Philippine team up to 15 members. This kind of surprised me to be honest, because I thought that the Philippine team would be quite a bit larger than that.
The Philippines, after all, is a country of 90 million people. There can be no doubt that there is a warm climate here, and basically that applies 12 months of the year. If we were talking about the Winter Olympics, I could understand that the Philippine team would be very small. After all, this is not the climate for winter sports. But for summer sports, the Philippines should really excel.
I have noted since living here, there seems to be a real lack of competitiveness in the Philippine culture. Competitive organized sports are few. Basically, basketball is about all that you see. There are other sports too, things like martial arts, swimming, soccer and such, but the number of people competing in the sports is very limited. Where I come from, even when you’re only four or five years old you’re already participating in sports leagues. Things like Little League baseball, Pop Warner football and other such events. I find that here in the Philippines, those kind of things are very limited, if not impossible to find.
One of the reasons, of course, is a lack of funding. Such sports can be expensive, and funds for that kind of thing are simply not available here. This would especially apply towards any kind of school events. However, it would seem that there are enough people with money here, that there could be like a kid’s soccer league or something like that. Each parent would supply the money for his own kid’s participation, and that wouldn’t be very expensive, in my opinion. Of course this would be limited to people that have money, or poorer people that were sponsored into such events.
I wonder though, if it’s not more of a cultural thing than a financial thing. Culturally, competition might cause the other person to lose face, embarrass them or something like that. In this culture, making somebody embarrassed like that is to be avoided or not done at all. Maybe it’s not cultural, but it’s something that comes to mind.
I find it strange though, that such sporting events don’t exist, but when it comes to basketball people go crazy. Why is that? I mean, there are multiple basketball leagues, college competition etc., but few other sports being competed. Another one that does come to mind is billiards. Billiards is widely played.
So, what do you think? Does it seem like there’s a lack of competitive sports in the Philippines compared other countries? To me that is clearly the case. Am I missing something?
Hi Ellen – yes, the colleges compete in NCAA events especially for basketball, but I was thinking more about young kids from kindergarten through grade school. I don’t see many sporting activities for them.
I wasn’t aware of any basketball arena in Davao, maybe it’s been closed down already, or I’m just unaware of it.
Hi Neil – I would agree I also don’t see the culture of competitive sports in India. Maybe that drives home the point that it’s perhaps caused by economics, as India is also quite poor. I tend to disagree with you about sports fields at schools and also about Parks. At least here in Davao, there are lots of Parks. As a matter of fact in my opinion, Davao has more parks than most cities in the US of a similar size. Also, I think just about every school I can imagine here has a track and a soccer field.
Hi Bob!
I looked up The Philippine Olympic history in Wikipedia and it looks like you are right; philippine olympians are mostly individual competitors. They have not had a Olympic Basketball team since 1972. Most of their atheletes are Boxers and Swimmers. The only medals they have won are for Boxing. Maybe if Manny Paqcuiao goes they can win another.
Interesting note: the Philippines HAS competed in the Winter Olympics in Alpine Skiing and the Luge.
Mark C.
Hi Mark C. – up its funny that you mentioned about the Winter Olympics. Feyma and I have a bit of a comical story about that. In 1992, when the Winter games were held, Feyma had just been in the states for a year at that time. When the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics came on TV, I was kind of excited and I told her, oh, I wonder if the Philippines has an Olympic team, let's watch and see. Well, she took it that I had just insulted or belittled her country. She told me that of course there was no Olympic team in the Philippines because they don't have Winter sports year. She proceeded to pout, and would not talk to me. Well, about an hour or two later, as the opening ceremonies continued the Philippine team made its appearance. I don't remember it consisted of either one athlete or two, but indeed there was a team! Feyma and I still laugh about that to this day.
Hi Bob.
Maybe that's a sport where Filipinas can compete; Olympic Pouting! 😉
They sure are good at it!
Mark C.
Hi Mark C. – Whew, Mark! 😯 I'm not going to touch that! 😆
😀 😆
Hi Ellen – ❓
ah sports. something dear to my heart.
over a decade ago, i too was surprised by the small rp contingent. i've soon come to realize the reasons are a mix of finance, qualifying for competition & focusing on certain sport to develop. that, and a messed up sports leadership.
i sometimes joke about pinas not having won a single gold medal in the olympics. but the bright side is that winning a medal there is much more cherished.
i see countries like china & the us belittling a small medal tally (a silver? what is this?!), and yet here is the philippines celebrating their bronze winner like a hero.
to be honest, in other tournaments (or leagues), i would be rolling my eyes about this. but for the olympics, where winning should be held secondary to sportsmanship, im ok with it.
maybe it helps that im a lifelong boston celtic fan. im used to the losing (well until this year — hmm, could it be possible…)
i should end my comment here, but i have to add this:
my wife & i have discussed how here in the states, girls are encouraged to be active in competitive sports. she believes that she would have benefitted in this type of environment. heck, even i was unsure at first on how to play in a mixed basketball game… then the girl matched up to me elbowed me in the ribs & promptly buried a jumper in my face.
i can compare my fil-am girl cousins who have played basketball varsity games as much more pro-active & independent minded than my pinay friends who grew up in a non-competitive environment.
i play & follow sports & i wish women in the philippines are encouraged to do so as well. it has helped me a lot in dealing with life matters. you can bet that if i have daughters, they will be playing ball.
i have however seen improvements recently.more so in manila where things are more in tuned to the modern world.
in manila (& davao), soccer has become a major college sports for women. i've also seen small flag footlball leagues with mixed men & women. i love it when i see the pinays giving the elbow & dirty looks at surprised pinoys. i like that there is an edge developing. it just warms my cold sporting heart.
Hello Bob,
I think you are on the right track there, all though if you fly Plane ALways Late (PAL) in there video clip you would think they are a great sporting nation. I nearly choked on my lunch when I watched that.
Remember the movie made a while back about the jamacains having having a winter olympic team and if I remember the only time they see snow is on TV.
I know that just going for a walk if foriegn to most filipinos, I know if I could drive the car through the shopping centre and down the iles to get food she would not get out of the car.
The Philippines does have its fair share of golf courses. Maybe it is me but filipinos love their TV celebrities much more than sport.
Judging by the population growth there, filipinos maybe too worn out to play sport.
I know it is a touchy subject, as experience with my ex filipina wife as I used to tease her and sisters about it every time every time we watched the olypmics.
Top of the day ya
Steven
Hi macky – I enjoyed your comments Macky, particularly the one about Filipinas getting involved in sports. There were some kind of funny but also insightful comments about that. I have to say though, I disagree the medals are not as cherished in other countries as they are in the Philippines. I think that in the USA. People are thrilled over every medal won an Olympic game. I know I always felt that way. Now, since having a connection in the Philippines, I feel a sense of happiness and pride whenever medals are won by the USA or the Philippines. I would guess that you feel that way to, being a Filipino but living in the USA.
Hey Bob
This strikes a nerve here with me in RI. I am obsessed with winning at any sporting games we play here at a cookout or get together, whether it be Bocci,Lawn Darts or Badmitton. My wife rags on me all the time about it.To me it seems the RP people play sports as more a social event not so much as to WIN.
But when is comes to Mahjung or ParisParis they take a sudden turn and can become downright Nasty. Whats up with that?
Hi Steven – I got a laugh out of the comment about driving the car down the aisles of the grocery store. Now that was funny. I do agree though, people here don't like things like walking and other types of activities we have to exert yourself a little bit. Although mentally I had not connected that was sports, I think you do have a point there.
Hi Neal In RI – I hadn't thought about the card games and such, but that's true. People here are very competitive when it comes to something like that, and if there's any money involved, oh my goodness! I would say, us Americans do tend to be a little bit over competitive at times when it comes to winning, I guess that's just our nature.
There used to be a basketball arena here in Davao. I once played there where people had to pay to watch, what happened to it? Do you know? Also remembered that I used to compete in NCAA, aren't schools active in this anymore? I was a member of the University of the pHilippines basketball and swimming team. At that time, swimming was a required PE to take. Dont know now…
Hi Bob
If you look at India with over a billion people, they won very few medals in the last summer olympics. Yes the Philippines does well in a few individual events (mainly martial arts). There does not seem to be much emphasis by the government to promote athletes.
I think one thing is that there are very few areas where there can be team sports except for basketball. You dont really see many baseball or soccer fields. In the states most schools have them especially high schools. Not so far as I could tell in the Philippines. Plus there are very few parks. Plus parents could not afford the transportation to and from the field.
Even though the U.S. wins the most amount of medals in the summer Olympics, but winning medals as a percentage of the overall population we are not number one then.
Hi Bob, this is way off the subject but I was wondering if it is normal for buses to keep on going after they splatter filipino's all over the maharlika highway. This has happened twice now this year on samar island about 20 miles north of calbayog. I am shocked that the drivers do that day or night. Have you heard of this happening also Bob?
Bob,
The Philippines seems to do OK at the SEA Games, so I don't think there is a cultural aversion to sport.
Australia won 2 medals at the Montreal games in 1976 and at the last 2 Olympics had been placed in the top 5 nations. After 1976 the Govt created a national Sports Institute that covers a multitude of sports, and of course there is a lot of money coming from private enterprise through sponsorship of teams and individuals.
If the Philippines wants to have more participants at Olympic level then it's simply a case of money….from Govt and private enterprise.
on comparison on sport titans like china & us to the philippines. i didn't mean to demean the US' thrill over wins. i should have worded it better, i see it here all the time.
i should have said that the meager medal output of the philippines does add more to the drama & excitement. that one medal feels like 30 to pinoys. not to put ourselves down, just an observation.
in the mid 90's when a boxer fondly called onyok came close to gold, the vibe in the country was comparable to a manny fight.
i remember that saturday night at a club & people were waving a mini flag on one hand & a gin tonic on the other (even the americans who were in a party mood were spotted with a flag).
very odd but certainly a unique festive experience. like it was a once in a lifetime experience (which may actually be true in this case given the olympic record of pinas) — all for one medal.
now if it was a basketball gold (if they ever qualify), hold on to your seats. all hell would break loose (and then freeze over). you could consider the top scorer a future senator by next election.
…and while we're on the topic of the Olympics.
During a lull in proceedings at the last Olympics, the network here was showing the Synchronised Swimming. When my wife came into the room and saw it, she asked me "are they replaying the opening ceremony".
hELLO bOB
I wish the same…..
Does Ateneo have thse sports league competition?? if yes, what are those?
Thanks.
Philippines has produced boxing champions and world class billiards players. It's quite common to see pickup basketball games virtually anywhere. But you're right, I think the majority of parents who can afford organized sports with coaches and good equipment, either don't see the value or are too overprotective. There's a lack of funding for the less affluent, and none for the poor.
Hi John – actually, I'm not aware of such a practice, but to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me.
Hi Laurence – I didn't realize the statistics about Australia's success in the Olympics. I guess I considered Australia to be successful, I guess what I didn't realize was that they came from such a low point in 76. That's quite a job there.
I find this column and the comments found here, kind of interesting. When I wrote the column I didn't really intend it to be about the Olympics, I consider that more of a side issue. My personal focus was more on the fact that there are not sports for young children, kids in grade school and such. But, I often find that the reader is focusing on a different area than what I intended in my column. That's not a problem for me, it just shows me that people have an interest in the subject, although not particularly what I thought would be of interest.
Hi macky – somebody mentioned in an earlier comment that the Philippines doesn't have an Olympic basketball team, which is something I didn't know. However, I guess I should have thought of that, because with the Philippines only sending 15 athletes to the Olympics is time. It would seem that there's no way they could have a basketball team, as that would account for probably the entire roster of athletes. Macky, do you have any idea why the Philippines doesn't compete in basketball? I mean, basketball is practically the national sport here, maybe it comes down to a size thing, and the Philippines thinks they can compete against the countries with bigger players. I'd be interesting to hear the reasoning on that if anybody knows.
Bob,
I thought you were questioning whether there was a cultural aspect to the low participation in sport e.g. losing face. I don't believe that it is a cultural thing.
You will find that many of the "little leagues" in Western countries are significantly funded by the sporting codes. The lack of such organised activities for children in the Phils is probably due to lack of funding as opposed to a lack of interest in participation.
Hi Bob, I think it is more a matter of priorities, keeping the family fed would be more important. The is trianing someone for the olympics is very expensive and involved total commitment from the athletes. Even here in Australia parents have sold their houses to support their son or daughter in the olympics.
I think the parents are want their children to be accountants or doctors more than a athlete. The income is more regular, like any sport it takes a major injury and it is game over. Then what do they do without the education to back it up.
It takes a long time and money to build the infratruture to creature a successfull olypmic team.
As for basket ball, well I know the Americans cheat. Because they have a special way to make the players taller. They use a use a super secret stretching machine to make the players taller. This is how they do it, they pick a potential player who is about 6ft tall and each week the coach puts him on this machine for two to three hours a week for twelve months until he is over seven foot tall and then teach him how to play basket ball.
So I recommend that the Philipines launch operation with special forces and go and steal one. Or alternativally lower the hoop two or more feet the filipino team are aiming to get the points.
Steven
H Bob, As you know I recently spent 7 months living in Manila, I was coaching young players all that time, I don't know about schools but there isn't much help elsewhere either.
The players that I worked with were all part of Academies and paid their own way, some players were helped financially by the organisers or by some kind parents.
The sports governing bodies of the Philippines don't seem to have the funds to help at grass roots or the wherewithal to raise them.
It's sad really as I coach young national players at home, in the Phils I saw many players that could (with funding) become challengers in the world forum.
I saw at least 2/3 players at a very young age that were better than some current internationals when they were at the same age. The potential is there.
The 2 big things that I noticed while coaching there was:
In my sport players up to the age of about 17 were exceptionally good but mostly then fade away, maybe because of lack of funding, lack of top quality coaching and probably because they have to find a way of earning a living and therefore don't have the time or support to train.
The other thing that I noticed was an inferiority complex by lots of players (not all). At some very big tournaments I had lots of players playing, whenever I coached my players between games and the opponents noticed that I was a foreign coach it seemed to affect their play.
From what I can gather and saw, they seemed to think that foreign coach = superior coach = superior player. Of course this isn't true at all but the belief certainly gave my players a few points start.
hi bob – on your question about philippine basketball. i'll sidestep the obvious size problems. that's something that is becoming less of a problem. sorry for this long one:
here's a fun fact, in the 1936 olympics (1st basketball event and in an outdoor court) the RP team actually lost only once in 5 games. but that 1 loss at that time was crucial because of the format and no medal no show.
the philippines was actually a world contender in the 50's & 60's. They even placed 3rd in the '54 world championships, something i cannot ever picture today.
when the pro league formed in 1975 (1st in asia), that wiped out the hoops program. this is because professionals were not allowed to play in international meets. that killed the program when RP had to send college & young amateurs against improving teams like japan & china. it was grown men against boys.
pros where again allowed to play in the 90's (example was the nba stocked US dream team). the RP team sent their own version of the dream team with PBA stars. they lost to china in the gold medal game.
right now, the program is basically starting fresh. it is only recently that the pro league & the RP basketball body have agreed to work together for a long term hoops program. there is talent but the program & level are handicapped with the late start.
the RP team was even banned to play internationally until recently. this is because of a feud between 2 organizations who were claiming rights to being in charge of phil. basketball. FIBA suspended the philippines as punishment.
imagine, there was even no RP hoops team in the last SEA games (a sure gold).
sorry for another long one. i'll end this with another fun fact: the philippines was a baseball hotbed in the early to mid 20th C. Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig even played an exhibition in Manila.
there is actually a very strong grassroots baseball program in the Philippines and they are found in Mindanao. there was a debacle in the 1992 little league world series when the RP team won! … then got stripped of the title because of cheating (surprise!). that RP team was represented by zamboanga.
I know friends who have competed for the national team who are based in Mindanao. who knew huh?
Hi Laurence – Ha ha, that's funny… I never saw synchronized swimming in the opening before! 😆
Hi Maryg – and I believe out of NATO has sports competitions for the older kids like in college and such. Maybe also for the high schoolers in the know in Manila I'm not sure on that. Here in Davao though, I'm not aware of any such activities.
Hi Gary – I think a lot of people commonly think that everybody here is poor, when in fact there are significant number of very rich people here, and the middle class is growing a lot too. Because of this, I think funding is something that should be available. Maybe it's something it'll be coming over the next decade or so we'll see. Thanks for your comment, Gary.
Hi Laurence – yes part of what I was questioning was the cultural aspect when it comes to sports. I still think there may be some cultural input there. Thanks for your comment again
Hi Steven – I can understand how the financial aspect would affect the poorer people, but there are a lot of wealthy people here, too. Regarding the rest of your comment, I'm assuming it was a joke?
Hi gerry mcguire – will be very interesting comment! I especially liked reading your last paragraph, and I can see that in play in many parts of society here. I believe you're onto something there, Gerry.
Hi macky – will need to be sorry because your comment with long, it was quite informative. Thanks for shedding some light on some things that were on my mind. Re: athletes from Mindanao, Sheila Mae Perez — I believe that's her name — is a diver from Davao, who may be able to medal in Beijing. I'll be cheering for her.
Hi Bob – Yeah, I wondered about Perez. How does a girl from Davao become an olympic diver? I wondered the same thing about a Davao track star a few years back.
The city does not have any quality facilities for such sports. I understand they train in Manila, but these athletes take interest in sports at a young age. How does a dabawenyo kid one day think "I want to compete in the olympics … as a diver!'. Huge accomplishment for her no matter where she places in the games.
I'm still waiting for that Davao equestrian star or maybe a gymast. Yes, these type of things go through my mind. and yes, I've been slacking off work today with the speedy replies.
btw, any word on the Davao sports arena & complex planning in UPmin?
Hi macky – I can't say for certain, but I have been told that during her childhood Perez used to train by diving off structures in Sasa. I would bet that her story is amazing.
kamusta bob
in my opinion the philippines should be more compedative in more sports.i remember reading about a billiards champ from philippines last year.i remember migs talking about some sort of water hockey and mabe they have something new for the world to compete in.hmmm mabe i could teach cliff diving in mindanao.here where i grew up we have fresh water quarrys and i loved cliff diving,
salamat bob 😯
Hi Bob
Anyone interested to know more about the Olympics, a lot of info may be had from from the following wikipedia address
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_sports
I agree with what has been said above. There is a lot of top class talent in Philippines in various sports and unfortunately funding is the big obstacle. Maybe the way forward would be to have a Government Department (on second thoughts maybe not) or a private body set up for collecting donations to fund an Olympic Sports Committee and work from there. I realise this would take some organising but everything starts small.
Now on another note Bob with your permission. I have intentions of installing a 10 pin Bowling facility (for the want of a better word) in the Resort I am constructing and I cannot find any website for Philippines where I can get information on the details of purchase, installation, requirements etc etc. Would any one of your millions of readers or yourself Bob know where or who I could contact in Philippines in order to proceed with this. I would prefer if I could do all dealings in Philippines. Who knows maybe someday we will have an Olympic Bowling team.
Thanks Bob
Jack
Hi Bob, sorry if the little ditty may have offended, but was not intended. A bit of ex submariner humour.
Steven
Hi Ron W – with your experience, maybe you can coach the diving team!
Hi Jack – I don't really have any contacts in the area bowling, sorry about that. Perhaps somebody else will come along and read your comment and contact you, though.
Hi Steven – no problem, I thought it was just a joke anyway.
Hi Bob- Laurence mentioned the Sports Institute in Australia, which has had great success. Steven pointed out that Australians have sold their houses to persue their childs sporting aspirations ,(and yes the rest was a JOKE! ), but the reality is the countries that can afford to groom their future champions will always triumph.
Yes you may get an individual who excels at a particular sport, but without sponsorship /funding they are not going to go too far.
On a final note,
Why is the most wealthy and influential country in the world (America) absolutely crap at soccer THE WORLD GAME!
Hi Macky:
You must be very young to only remember the Celtics as a "loosing" franchise. The ones of us that are more seasoned remember most of their now 17 championships. MORE than any other team in NBA history!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes for the past 20 years they have not been very competitive, a sad state for a proud franchise. However in the 30 years prior to that they won 16 championships. That is not a loosing franchise!!!
Hi Bob
I have always wondered the same things that you have concerning the Philippines and sports. I have noticed that China excels in such sports as diving, gymnastics, and figure skating of which figure skating is a winter sport. I believe it is cultural because my kids are half filipino and they have participated in sports here in the US and did very well especially in track and field. I have a couple of nieces in the Philippines that I plan on introducing to figure skating once I make my move over there. I know of one rink available in the area where they live and I'd like them to check out gymnastics also.
Hi Bob. I think it's mostly financial.
Sports for sports sake is a big value by itself.
As you have explained Americans introduced sports early on in a child's life. Majoirity of these kids would never be sports star….but the activity itself brings in invaluable learning in one's futuire socially and economically. Conflict resolution, strategizing, focus, organization, perseverance, self-esteem, team playing,.etc are all involved and make one a better person.
When the Americans were running Philippine schools, sports was heavy in the curriculum. There were intra and interschools intramural competitions. All these faded once Filipinos took over the education leaderships. It's a sad development.
In the rural areas nowadays of course it's a matter of calorie preservation. Sports is not the most efficient way to use those precious calories. You better grab that bolo or that hoe and work in the farm rather than waste 'energy' and 'time' by engaging in any sports. If you do engage in sports you'll be labelled a fool or the town's 'lazy'.
Bob,
This response is a bit late. You're right though, financial is one of the reasons, a major one in this case, why young talented kids don't participate in some . Others could be politics and bureaucracy.
However, I disagree with you regarding lack of competitiveness in the Phils. From elementary to college, I participated in one way or the other in academic or sports competition. Well, mostly academic, since I'm such a wuss when it comes to sports. In elementary, we have school district (composed of few schools) competition, then Division (school districts against each other- in Gensan) level competition. Then, regional competition – in our case, used to be SMRAA – Southern Mindanao Regional Athletic Asso. Then, to National level. I was even in the volleyball team when I was in 6th grade (distict level only). We lost though. 🙂
Just like one of the readers said, it is really the funding that hinders talented kids to compete. Sometimes, even if the parents will help them, lack of support (financial and moral) from their respective schools also.
Don't you wonder why basketball became the national sports and pastime of the Philippines? It's because all you need is a cheap ball and bunch of young boys will have fun. Most of them just even wear slippers when they play. Feyma can attest to this.
I also have a nephew who would have been a participant in Science & Technology competition in National level but because of no funding from the school, he didn't join the contest in Manila. These young college students from MSU have to pay for their own airfare and room and board. OF course, these kids can't afford it, that's why they're in MSU in the first place.
Anyways, Bob, next time, you may want to sponsor a basketball team in an underpriviliged neighborhood. You may surprise how competitive they are. You may call it a LIP Team, sounds like Lipton though. 🙂
All,
Isn't it obvious I'm reading a week-long posts? I thought I was responding to an old post. Since there were 48 posts before me, I really though I was responding to a 5-day old post! Anyway, thanks for this topic Bob. And thank God for the internet. Even though we're moving to the Virgin Islands, LIP blog is still a one click away! Ok, few clicks probably. NOw, back to my packing.
~Lea
Here's something about bowling:
http://www2.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2008/07/11/…
Hi anthony – soccer is just not part of our heritage, I guess. I don't understand the game, I don't know the rules, and frankly I find it boring. I know most people around the world will be shocked to hear that, because there's a lot of excitement in the game for them. I guess I would find it boring because of a lack of exposure to the game.
Hi Wayne A. Derby – I was thinking the same thing about the Celtics, over the years they've been one of the most winning franchises around I'd say. But, indeed, Macky is very young. 😆
Hi Dan Mihaliak – I imagine those girls must be in Manila, then, because that's probably the only place in the country where there's an ice rink! I wish them the best of luck.
Hi Dr. Sponk Long – your comment about the use of calories certainly rings true.
Hi Lea – I agree there are scholastic competitions, but I'm not really talking about academics here. The LiP basketball team? Maybe it should be all ex-pat kids? 😆
Hi Lea – Nope! This was just a post from the same day Lea, he just got a lot of activity. Seems there was a lot of interest in the topic! Good luck with your move to the Virgin Islands!
Hi Ellen – I think the previous commentor was looking more for information on how to buy the equipment and have it installed, but thank you for the link.
haha – Wayne A. Derby's reply on the celtics sure took me by surprise.
I'm a bit of a sports nut & my curse is that I never (ever) switch team loyalty, but I'm aware of the team history (a little too much, actually)
After the 80's success, I've been faithfully rooting for a losing franchise. believe me, you can bet a few family & friends quickly had me in mind when the celtics won the title last month. my cell phone & inbox was packed with congratulatory texts, which confused me since i did not play a single game.
I even wrote about it on my blog. It felt like the sox curse for me. haha.
On school sports meets. There is actually a local Davao tournament for schools. for elementary, high school & college. I believe the high school meet was called DCAA & involved various sports (soccer, volleyball, hoops, tennis etc).
There are also scouts who scan the local high schools & colleges to play in Manila leagues (the NCAA, UAAP or local leagues).
There is also a semi-pro hoops league in Davao sponsored by local businesses. The players are actually pretty good.
Hi macky – I was unaware of the high school league that you mentioned. Thanks for letting me know.
Bob,
Again, I will reiterate, during my time (I sound so old), we had what we called SMRAA Meet- Southern Mindanao Regional Athletic Association. You will find mostly sports played in the Philippines in this competition. This competition was of course purely athletic, as the title stated. Winners will then proceed to national level – the "Palarong Pambansa" (PB). In MSU (Mindanao State University) System, we first had an intra-campus competition, then, we an inter-campus competition follows. For the intra-campus it is between colleges/department – eg. College of Business Admin. vs. College of Engineering vs. College of Education, etc.
Here's a link from Gensan's site that also supports Pinoys are competitive – http://www.gensantos.gov.ph/news/viewnews.php?new…
Another old post re: PB – http://www.inquirer.net/globalnation/sec_spo/2003…
Oh – and for the LIP team – if it's going to be all expat members – now, that will be unfair because this team will be well-funded. 🙂 And if the LIP Team lose, that's will be a shame. 🙂
Hi Lea – Thank you for passing that along.
I think maarte has something to do with competitiveness.
When filipinos see somebody trying extra hard at something, like being clean, or studying hard, or making extra effort to make good presentation for school project, people around them say you are maarte! What?! This is actually a sarcastic remark.
Sports is just another expression of competitiveness, at work, school, people are actually looked down upon if they try TOO hard. maarte talaga!
Hi khaye – I think that such things might play a part. it's unfortunate, though.
yes very unfortunate. I have cousin who intentionally speaks broken me because she doesnt want her friends calling her maarte. Is this part of crab mentality? maybe
Hi khaye – yes, I think you're correct on that. It's crab mentality.
Hi Ellen
Thanks for that, but as Bob rightly points out I am looking for information on how to buy the equipment and have it installed, but thanks very much for taking the time to help out.
Jack