Philip Ella Juico, former chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission, issued the challenge when he graced the staging of the five-regional Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) Clusters competitions at the Batangas Provincial and Cultural Center in Lipa City yesterday.
The meet attracted over 3,000 athletes from Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Lucena and the Rizal provinces where most of the present national athletes come from.
Events on tap in the three-day championships are athletics, swimming, basketball, volleyball, baseball, sepak takraw, tennis, gymnastics, badminton, taekwondo and judo.
The five-cluster competitions will wind up with the national PRISAA championships, set in February next year.
Juico, who now serves as vice-chairman of IBC 13, also cited the 50-year-old PRISAA which he said has proved to be an effective feeder system for national athletes that has spawned athletes such as ace sprinter Inocencia Solis, hurdler Rogelia Ferrer and Josephine dela Vina (discus throw), Marcela Alonzo (javelin) and Visitacion Ribagorda (Cebu Institute of Technology).
"It is a sad fact that many enthusiastic participants in sports, after graduation from college, have no place to go to sustain their interest in sports," said Juico. "In fact, many of them, given the opportunity to train and compete, may even be still competitive and can represent the country in various international competitions."
As an example of the effectiveness of the sports club system in sports development, Juico mentioned the sports successes of Soviet Russia and Germany whose athletes religiously trained under the sports club. Both countries were sports power in the world championships and the Olympic Games at the height of their country’s political power.
The PRISAA, Juico streseed, should be empowered to institute the necessary structure for a sport club system that can sustain sports participation under the concept of "Sports for All," which the former PSC chair approved. He then enjoined owners of private schools "to invest valuable time and resources to improve and insure a greater return of their investments with the same support they give in investing money in the academic and technical training of the young men and women in their colleges."