"Young as we are as an NSA and faced with a dearth of local talents, we have a lot of work to do to develop triathlon, that is why we will put emphasis on our nationwide talent search program, and have appointed Rick Reyes and former national champion Ani de Leon to handle our junior triathlon program on a full-time basis," "said TRAP president Tom Carrasco after a recent planning meeting with his officials.
"We will also host a junior training camp in Subic in July this year, supported by the International Triathlon Union (ITU), the Asian Triathlon confederation (ASTC) and triathlon’s international sponsor British Gas (BG)," he added.
At the same time, the elite athletes will be given the opportunity to compete and train abroad with an eye on a podium finish in both the triathlon and duathlon events in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand.
This year, national duathlon champion Ryan Mendoza also emerged as Asian champion and is ranked among the best in the world.
For the coaches, Reyes, together with assistant coaches Abet Alon Alon and Loy Rafols completed an International Triathlon Union (ITU) Level 1 coaches accreditation workshop in Changping, China.
This year he will be assisting ITU sports development director Libby Burrell and other high performance international coaches in conducting another Level 1 coaches’ accreditation seminar, the second for Asian coaches, also in Subic in July.
For its technical officials, TRAP secretary-general Mon Marchan and Rachel Dumuk have already reached the international official level and have been involved in various international events of the ITU and the ASTC while Pepe Eviza, Fabie David and Lito Cinco were among the local officials who also officiated at the recent triathlon event of the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
TRAP has bared its year round schedule of races highlighted by the National Triathlon Championship on Feb. 18 at The Lakeshore in Mexico, Pampanga, the Subic International Triathlon May 5-6, the O2 Long Distance Triathlon also in Subic in July, the nationwide Speedo National Age Group Triathlon (NAGT) series with legs in Clearwater Clark, Davao, Danao, Cagayan de Oro, Los Baños, The Lakeshore in Pampanga, and in Ayala-Alabang, Muntinlupa and other TRAP-sanctioned races and international stints for national triathletes.
Duathlon and aquathlon will also have its own share of races to complement TRAP’s schedule of triathlon events, according to Carrasco.
"We are finalizing our marketing efforts for our program sponsors and long-time partners like Speedo, Asian Center for Insulation Philippines (ACIP), David’s Salon and Day’s Spa, Fitness Center, Herbalife, among others, and partnerships with various venue hosts like the SBMA, Clearwater Country Club, and The Lakeshore, "said Carrasco.