A DELEGATION from Korea is coming to Manila to help the Philippine Sports Commission in efforts to revive and relaunch the Philippine Sports Institute.
National training director Marc Edward Velasco, who worked at the Hong Kong Institute of Sports for eight years before he was invited back to work at the PSC, said this, some two weeks before the relaunch of the PSI.
“They will help us by sending experts here, or we send athletes and experts there in Korea to train. It’s in development. It’s one of the things that we are planning,” said Velasco.
The Korean Sports Science Institute is headed by Dr. Myung Chun-Lee, and has been helping development Korean athletes since its formation in 1990.
The relaunch of the PSI is on Jan. 16 at the Multipurpose Arena of the Philsports Complex in Pasig City.
The PSC has earmarked P50-million for the purchase of sports equipment that the PSI will need to help develop athletes both at the grassroots and elite level.
A yearly budget of P300-million will help fund the operations and program of the PSI.
Its thrust will have to do with efforts directed towards taking care of the needs of the elite athletes, and providing the means to develop athletes at the grassroots level.
Officials of the PSC have big plans for the PSI, which will be the centerpiece program of the National Sports Development Program.
It will have a four-stage programs which are dedicated for both athletes identification and the training of a pool of researchers.
Under the grassroots development program (GSDP), talented kids who are between the age of 8 to 15 years old will be chosen to undergo training.
This is a program which the Velasco developed while working closely with deputy director Dr. Henry Daut, who came aboard last October.
The four stages of the GSDP will involve the training of the pool of researchers, the testing phase of selected athletes, the selection of the athletes, and their inclusion in the Smart Kids program.
President Rodrigo Duterte will be the guest speaker during its launch.