AS part of the worldwide celebrations of the International Day of University Sports on Sept. 20, the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines paid tribute to the three Filipino athletes who brought honor to the country during the Summer Universiade from 2011 to 2017.
FESSAP president David Ong said the three Filipino athletes—chess champion GM Wesley So, taekwondo star Samuel Thomas Morrison and wushu sensation Jomar Balangui—serve as outstanding role models for youth, who excel in sports.
“The achievements of Wesley So in chess, Samuel Morrison in taekwondo and only recently, Jomar Balangui in wushu, are perfect examples of our young and talented university athletes who can make a big difference,” said Ong in a message to student-athletes during the FESSAP-organized IDUS celebrations at the University of Baguio.
Balangui, the hero in the Philippines’ campaign in the recent Taipei University held last Aug. 17 to 30, comes from UB.
Ong personally congratulated all three Filipino medalists—So for winning the gold medal in chess during the 2013 Kazan Universiade, Morrison for bagging the silver in taekwondo in the 2011 Universiade and Balangui for bringing home a silver in wushu in the 2017 Taipei Universiade.
“As we join our FISU family in this annual celebration of the International Day of University Sports every Sept. 20, it is only proper that we pay tribute again to our three biggest athletes in the Universiade,” said Ong.
Newly appointed FESSAP regional director for Cordillera Autonomous Region Dhanna Kerina Bautista Rodas of UB and Balangui led the celebrations.
The annual celebration of the International Day of University Sports was initiated by FISU president Oleg Matytsin of Russia. It was started last year and officially endorsed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
FISU said the celebration is aimed at confirming the importance of sports in universities and the role of the universities in the community as responsible actors for consolidating and developing quality physical and sports education.
FISU and UNESCO member-countries are encouraged to annually mobilize the academic world and hold tailor-made events according to their culture and specific needs with the focus that sports is taken out of the universities and left solely to the initiative of the private sector because sports must be fully integrated in higher education.
The FESSAP, headed by Ong, Atty. Baldomero Estenzo, Prof. Robert Milton Calo, Jedel Agron, Dr. Diosdado Amante, Dr. Godofredo Gallega and businessman-sportsman Alvin Tai Lian, is the only local governing body in university sports duly recognized by FISU since 2009.
FESSAP has hundreds of member-universities and colleges all over the country, such as the SCUAA, BAP, PRISAA, CESAFI, FCAAF, PISCUAA, CAAP, LAAA, among others.