Out of touch

Philippine sports bench goes deeper. When Alex Eala loses, other athletes win. One of them could be her heir apparent. Maristella Torrecampo won the under 14 girls singles final at the ITF Asia development championships. Gabriel Santisima stunned a once undefeated Japanese fighter to a WBO Asia-Pacific super bantamweight title in Tokyo. And of course there is EJ Obiena who won gold in the International Springer-Meeting in Germany, sharing the golden podium with a Dutch jumper after they both cleared the same height.

Although Obiena says indoor is not his thing, he won gold at the Asian indoors championships. Still the best in Asia, but Chinese jumpers dangerously close in on the Filipino, just as their government is getting invasively closer to Philippine territory.

His dislike to indoors is understandable. For some reason, no one remembers indoor winners in track and field, just as no one remembers doubles champions in tennis. Sad but true. Or odd but still true. There are more tennis players who play doubles, but there are more people who watch singles.

More so in this country, where tennis courts are few and far between, even dying as buildings rise faster than young tennis players develop. If the government does not make more tennis courts open to the public, elite clubs and upscale subdivisions will make tennis inaccessible to poor but good players, but exclusive to their members who are rich and good in tennis. Or just rich.

But imagine if Obiena likes to compete in an enclosure. How many more he could have won. Outdoors he is winning here and there, but not yet everywhere, like in the only one that matters, the Olympics. There are just sports that are best played outside. Track and field, tennis and golf, to name a few. Imagine teeing off inside a dome, artificial grass and all.

Institutions too, they should serve outside, where the people are. While the government brings itself closer to the people, its corrupt occupants are closest to public purse. The academe has open universities, whatever that means. What matters is teaching students how to solve life problems outside its walls, like self-defense, financial literacy, crisis management and sex education. More so the church, its doors are tightly locked during calamities, literally and figuratively. Even if the victims are its followers, but still considered outsiders.