Mike Keon, the training director of the Filipino athletes who competed in the two-week event, said without these, Team Philippines couldn’t have done it despite the hometown advantage.
Keon said an "accountable" system in the training of the national athletes was another factor. "Having sufficient funds is number one. Without money, you cannot achieve your goals (in sports). Then comes adequate training," he said as the Philippines won its first overall title in the SEA Games."
And it’s a long time coming. I’m very happy for the athletes. And I’m very happy for our nation. It’s going to be a good Christmas for all of us," he added.
The biennial event, which drew close to 7,000 athletes and officials from 11 countries, came to a close Monday night with the Philippines winning a total of 113 gold, 86 silver and 92 bronze medals.
A total of 439 golds were staked in the two-week competition and the Philippines was in full control all throughout. In fact, no other country even came close to the hosts especially on the closing days.
Keon said the Philippines had waited so long before winning its first overall championship, since the country first competed in the regional sports meet in 1977.
"Now we’ve shown that we are capable of slugging it out with our Southeast Asian neighbors," said the former director of Project Gintong Alay. The final medal count, he said, didn’t really matter in the end.
What matters most, Keon said, is that the Philippines has finally won the overall title."
It (final medal tally) doesn’t really matter because so many of us made our own predictions on how many gold medals we can win. What matters now is that we are the SEA Games champion," he said in a phone interview.
Hundreds of Filipino athletes underwent training overseas this year, visiting countries like China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Italy, US, Hungary and even Indonesia. The Filipino athletes’ learned so much training under the watchful eyes of Olympic and world champions.
Keon said the same formula should be applied as the country prepares for its participation in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"Once you’ve tasted victory, you want to taste it again and again. And we should not lose this momentum," he said.