THE Philippine delegation to the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia gets a big emotional boost during the official sendoff ceremony on April 25 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
To be attended by both officials from the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, the ceremony will also serve as a solid show of unity among stakeholders and National Sports Associations.
The PSC staff has begun mobilizing the National Sports Associations, setting the assembly time and pickup both at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium at 2 p.m. and the Philsports Arena at 1:30 p.m. They will then proceed to the PICC for the 3 p.m. affair. Athletes and coaches were asked to wear white shirts since the Team Philippine track suits have not been distributed yet.
In past sendoff rites, coaches and athletes receive messages from the Philippine president to be reminded of their mission to make their country proud in the sporting arena. It’s not confirmed yet if President Bongbong Marcos will be physically present during the occasion.
“Iba talaga ‘yung karanasan and feeling kapag ni-represent mo ang bansa. Talagang ibibigay lahat lahat,” said coach Glenn Mondol of the national kickboxing team, which made its debut in the 2019 Philippine SEA Games and delivered 3 gold medals, 2 silvers and a bronze.
For the Cambodia meet, sports officials have not made projections yet, but expect the nearly 900-strong athletes to go all out and improve on the country’s 4th place overall finish in Vietnam last year.
“I don’t want to project. The PSC is just here trying to take care of the athletes and their allowances and just to support them. If you were fourth last year, maybe you can improve this year. And our athletes have been winning abroad. Hopefully, that carries over to Cambodia. That they get the confidence and perform well,” said PSC chairman Richard Bachmann.
But he fully committed the PSC support and even vowed to be in Cambodia for whole two-week duration of the meet and see to it that all help is provided for Team Philippines.
Bachmann said the PSC has so far been busy coordinating with various NSAs to provide their needs including funding preparation, equipment, and logistics.
Boxing, one of the country’s medal-rich sports, will be bannered by 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam.
Weightlifting Olympian Elreen Ando and Asian champion Vanessa Sarno will spearhead the national weightlifting squad in the absence of the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, who is deep in training to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.