Where credit is due

The Southeast Asian Games are over, and the miles of tickertape (and red tape) have been swept away. As we bask in the afterglow of our first overall championship, many are rushing into the spotlight, ad libbing and a tossing in a little political soft-shoe routine to claim credit.

If you dig just beneath the surface, one of the men who was crucial to the outstanding performance of the athletes and kept a close watch on them and their resources (and has received very little recognition for it), is national training director Mike Keon.

Keon, brought in late last year by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez to oversee the athletes’ needs in preparation for the Philippine SEA Games, was tasked to scrutinize every facet of training, determine what resources they needed, and monitor the substantial funding received from the First Gentleman’s Foundation (FGF). The former Project: Gintong Alay head was part of a committee which included the Philippine Olympic Committee’s Steve Hontiveros and Joey Romasanta, and former PSC chair Butch Tuason (now representing the FGF).

Keon urgently went about asking all the right questions of each national sports association (NSA). How much money did they need, and how would they spend it? Which international competitions did they plan to enter? What equipment did they need? In close coordination with FGF executive director Tessa Mangahas, Keon made sure that the money from the various sports godfathers went to what they were intended for, or, in two instances, straight to the NSA concerned.

Publicly, things did not look too bright for the SEA Games. Awareness was low, and venues were being hurried to completion. Privately, it took a while for the funds to flow, and for the NSAs to submit their requirements to get the ball rolling. With all the political bickering and lack of palpable positive publicity, it felt like we were standing on the tracks, waiting for the train to hit.

"With the basketball fiasco and problems pertaining to the Games, people had the impression that we were going to flop," Keon recalls. "But training was insulated from all that, so it had no effect on the athletes. I truly believe it was because 36 of the 41 sports were able to go overseas. There were a total of 121 overseas exposures. How do you think we won?"

One major breakthrough was the forging of an agreement with China’s Ministry of Sports. Filipino athletes were sent to the Chinese provinces pertinent to their sports, and experienced training with coaches of Olympic champions, and learned from the medalists themselves. Our dragonboat team, for example, traveled all over the Middle Kingdom, competing practically every other day. This was thanks to the partnership between the FGF and PSC. The FGF answered for the airfare of over 300 athletes to China, Mongolia, Japan, Korea, Italy and other countries, while the PSC acquired the accommodations and services of the topflight Chinese coaches.

For his part, one of Keon’s strengths was getting additional funding for sports that needed it. All they had to do was justify the need. Boxing, for example, boxing only benefited to the tune of P 3 million, the same amount that sailing received. Keon helped the boxing team get more funds for potentially more medals. Unfortunately, since the money was being tightly guarded and couldn’t be misused, some of the traditional politicians in charge of certain other sports became increasingly uncomfortable with the frank, hawk-eyed and businesslike training director watching the coffers.

"Politics is what has held Philippine sports back for so long, and politics could waste all the good will generated by our victory in the SEA Games," Keon warns. "When politics raises its ugly head, everything good that has been brought about is squandered."

In a country parched for men of good intent, the SEA Games were a shining example of how well-placed and wisely used resources can make a difference, not just in performance, but in perception. Largely as a result of Keon’s gate-keeping of the First Gentleman’s Foundation funds, godfathers and corporate sponsors now see the impact their help can have, and are more willing to help.

"What will cement our success is good will among the men who matter," says Keon, who was conspicuously absent from both the opening and closing ceremonies of the SEA Games. "Let’s remember that, in Team Philippines, the athletes are the major players. We, the officials and coaches and everyone else, are the supporting cast. Everything is for the athletes. If there is no one-upmanship, on politics, then we will be able to use this opportunity to catapult ourselves to the next level."

Even First Gentleman Mike Arroyo has acknowledged the magnitude of Keon’s safeguarding of the SEA Games monies, and urges our sports officials to prioritize the selection and training of athletes for the Asian Games in 2006.

"Money was spent well. That’s the crux of the matter," the Ilocos provincial board member affirms. "People have really got to be given the largesse, if you will: first-class training, first-class equipment, competition against world-class opponents. That will take real money. But we can do it."

Quietly leading by example, Keon flashes a knowing smile that the best of the Filipino has finally peeked out behind the shroud of years of misplaced priorities and personal interests. Now, the gleam of future golds seems tantalizingly within reach, if we plan properly and prepare intently.

"Philippine sports has turned a corner. We’ve reached a threshold, and there is no turning back. The next rung–the Asian Games in Doha next year–will be more difficult, but we have a lot of sports that are world-class, even we are surprised." Keon mentioned badminton, wrestling, fencing, shooting, taekwondo and boxing, among others. "There has been so much good will generated by our victory in the SEA Games, we are definitely moving forward."

And all Mike Keon asks is the chance and the resources to do it the right way. As Winston Churchill once said, "Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."

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This week’s episode of The Basketball Show will give way to "Rage in December", the fight between former world champion Gerry Peñalosa and Paraguayan bantamweight champion and knockout artist Dario "El Indio de Oro" Azuaga. The Basketball Show will resume next week.