No need to train abroad to win medal

To prepare for international competitions of major proportions such as the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the Philippines has always sent athletes for training abroad, if not hire the expertise of a foreign coach.

For the Pabillores, however, this does not necessarily apply as they firmly believe that local training will do as far as karatedo is concerned. In fact, even better than having to go abroad for a massive build up.

"Local training is still very effective. We don’t really need to send our athletes to train abroad because we can do it here. Maybe we’ll just send our athletes to compete in other countries for exposure, but not necessarily to train in there," said RP team coach Victoria Pabillore.

Victoria mentored her younger sister Maria Marna Pabillore to a golden finish in the 23rd SEA Games karatedo competition just three days ago at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

Victoria’s nephew, Joey Pabillore, won two bronzes in the men’s individual kumite and in the men’s team kumite competition.

Maria Marna Pabillore beat Cambodia’s S. Raceana, 4-1, and then escaped with a 2-1 decision over Vietnam’s Dao ThiTu Anh, 2-1, before crushing Thailand’s Yarisa Torratanawathana, 6-1, in the finals to grab the gold.

Maria Marna said they politely declined the invitation of the Philippine Karatedo Federation (PKF) officials for them to join the rest of the RP team members for a five-month training in Italy under

Italian coach Romano Guiseppi, because they opted to train at their gym - the Youth Development Through Karatedo Association in Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City.

"For me, I prefer to train here. Even though I get tired after a hard day’s training, I’m still happy because I’m at home. When you train abroad, you will be away from you’re family and friends," said Maria Marna.

The YDTKA has evolved into a gold mine for the Philippines in international tilts, starting off with Joey Pabillore’s gold medal performance in the 2001 Malaysia SEA Games.

Joey though slipped to silver in the 2003 Vietnam SEAG and got only a bronze in this year’s 23rd edition of the biennial sports meet hosted by our country.

Interestingly, his cousin Maria Marna made a substantial improvement from a bronze medal in Malaysia to silver in Vietnam and now gold.

"Winning gold has really boosted my confidence level. I’ll just have to train hard and prepare for the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, which is my next target," said Maria Marna, who like Joey, is an AB Economics graduate from CDO’s Xavier University.