OFFICIALS of the Philippine Sports Commission are confident that they have gone a step further in providing for the nutritional needs of athletes that are under its care.
The agency, led by Chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, signed a two-year deal with USANA Health Sciences to help addresses the health needs of around 300 elite national athletes.
Philippine Sports Institute head and national training director Marc Edward Velasco said this is just a start.
“This will be a good example for Philippine sports, that we can work with corporate entities and really push forward for sports development. We hope USANA will also get involved with our grassroots program,” said Velasco, who took the lead in the initial talks with executives of USANA, a global nutritional company.
Ramirez said the partnership is timely and comes at a time when the agency is getting frustrated with its plans to put up a five-star canteen inside the Philsports complex that will provide for nutritious meals for athletes.
“When I was informed by Marc [Velasco] about the partnership, my immediate answer is yes,” Ramirez said.
The plans to put up the canteen will have to wait till the end of the December because of the difficulty that the agency is encountering with the government procurement procedures.
He added that the agency will have to be patient as they await the construction of the PSC High Performance Center, and the purchase of biomechanical and training equipment.
USANA, whose nutritional products have been certified safe for athletes by the World Anti Doping Agency, signed the deal with Aurora Gaston, vice president for Philippines and Indonesia.
“It is a privilege to work with the PSC and the PSI in their goal to get our athletes ready to represent our country in the international sports arena,” said Gaston.
Under the deal, USANA will regularly provide supplements like the Cellsential pack, CoQuinone and Procosa for the national athletes for the next two years.
Among the athletes who will be provided nutritional packs are billiard player Rubilen Amit, taekwondo jin Japoy Lizardo, table tennis player Josephine Medina and Wilhelmina Lozada of fencing.
On the other hand, Olympic silver medallist Hidilyn Diaz of weightlifting is already a regular user of their products, according USANA executives.