GA-AWAS awas ang mga premyo nga madawat ni Caloy human niya masakmit ang 2 ka gold medals sa Paris Olympics.
Sama sa bisan kinsa na lang ang gusto nga mohatag og premyo ngadto kaniya, ang uban gusto nga mahibaw-an sa mga katawhan ang paghatag, ang uban sab dili gusto ipahibalo o kanang sekreto lang.
There are various motives in giving of course.
Those who want to publish the act of giving probably want to ride on the publicity because Caloy is now an international celebrity, and his accomplishments, and his activities from now on, will be closely watched. Of course, those whose names are listed, by mere accident or not deliberately, are not included in this category.
But those who want to reward him for earning an Olympic gold medal for the country, and who do not wish to publish their reward to Caloy are motivated purely by the love of sports and of course, love of country.
* * *
I’m pretty certain that a lot of things will happen when Caloy goes home to the Pinas.
There will be a hero’s welcome for him, upon arrival, upon his stay in Manila and in many other places in the country.
He will be featured in many newspapers, TV shows and probably, some enterprising movie directors will do a film for him.
And of course, there will be a race among the country’s politiko to invite him, share a picture with him and make the usual pakulo – another multi-million personal reward to Caloy, this time with pakapin nga message nga Caloy is an inspiration to the country’s youth and he will reiterate his commitment to sports development.
Maybe, somebody will invite him to join their political party and make a run for the senate in 2025.
Agehh.
* * *
Caloy of course deserve the accolade of the country because true enough, his recent accomplishments are a fertile ground for inspiration – nothing is impossible when one puts his heart and mind in everything that he does.
For sure it was not easy, there were so many ups and downs along the way but Caloy persevered and showed firm resilience to overcome the challenges.
He believed in himself and he made it.
It was an olympic-grade hard work for Caloy, and it paid off.
Now the question – how much in financial assistance was shouldered by the government?
Or, worse, was there any financial assistance extended by the government to Caloy during his training?
* * *
Can we produce another Caloy in our youth?
Well, it would be extremely difficult.
For one, many of our officials are just fond of talking, but not doing, anything about sports. They just love to make kwento about sports, about sports greats like Caloy but provide no financial support.
For another, our local sports program are geared towards winning the game by providing very huge prices, and not really aimed at developing a sustainable sports program.
For instance, we have tournaments that offer very attractive prices for the winners so the participating teams are “forced” to “import” players from other places, leaving the local talents to stagnate.
Ang uban, mag-tournament lang kon dunay budget para premyo, mahunong na sab kon way budget o kon way mailad nga donors nga mohatag og para premyo. Mora ba og way mahimong tournament kon way premyo nga ihaylo kunohay sa mga participants. And this is basically the root cause of the problem.
It is because of this mind-set nga matingala na lang ta nga adunay “foreigner” (peke o tinuod) nga modula sa usa ka team nga dili taga-diha pero gihimo-himoan lang og “drama” nga adunay paryente kunohay sa maong lugar.
Ang tuyo – kinahanglan nga modaog aron makuha ang premyo.
This is the cancer of our sports program now – it is always about winning the game, and not really in developing our players.
* * *
We also have a twisted sports development program.
Try to visit the mess hall (canteen) during provincial or regional meet during meal time, and the great disparity – and injustice – is most evident.
Mantinel lang intawon ang pagkaon sa mga athletes pero ang pagkaon sa mga sports officials, their families and their visitors, susko, mora’g nagpista. Abunda ang pagkaon sa mga sports officials pero uyamot ang para sa mga athletes or players.
Unya, dunay uban nga kapnan or kilkilan pa gyod ang budget para uniform apil na ang mga shoes nga ipagamit, bahala og bug-at ug dili angayan sa mosull-ob basta ka-sapi lang sila. Diha pa gani incident nga ang gisaad nga premyo wala madawat sa player nga midaog kay gibulsa sa coach.
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Well, maybe its high time for the DepEd to assess the significance of holding the yearly provincial meets and regional meets.
If there is no serious effort to develop sports but the holding is only “for compliance” purposes and only to provide a good excuse for sports officials to enjoy a week or so nga bakasyon, plus the accompanying “points” or “credits” in their personal files for their participation during the meet, mas maayo pa tingali nga undangon na lang kay usik-usik ra nas budget.
