American coach wants spring training for Pinoy athletes

NAY PYI TAW – Fired up by its six-gold medal performance, the athletics team of new officer-in-charge Philip Ella Juico may be looking forward to a trip to the United States to undergo spring training under US coaches and compete with topnotch athletes for next year’s Asian Games and the 2015 Southeast Asian Games.

American coach Ryan Flaherty, who was behind the outstanding performance of the 24-member track and field team, said he is recommending a crack 20-member Filipino team to train in the US starting in February.

“The spring training will be from February to April when competitions in the US are held on a weekly basis,” said Flaherty, who was hired by the Philippine Sports Commission to serve as strength and conditioning coach of the track and field team in Baguio.

As part of their training, he said the athletes will be participating in as many as 20 tournaments with professionals and collegiate players.

He said that for the Philippines to be very competitive in the SEA Games, it must look beyond Myanmar.

“We must work out a long-term program that will ensure a flow of talents and our competitiveness in the next SEA Games, which is only one and half years from now,” he said.

Despite being only two months with the team – and this was interrupted when he had to go back to the US in October – there was notable improvement in the stamina, endurance and power of the athletes who won 6-4-3 gold-silver-bronze medals, the biggest among 26 sports competing in 33 sports in the 27th SEA Games.

The output bettered the 2-9-5 output of the 2011 team.

“This team is composed of new and veteran players, and we will be depending on the new crop of players to keep our tradition of excellence in the sport,” said Juico.

Juico, the former PSC chair who was requested by ailing Go Teng Kok to take over the team to Myanmar, was here to watch the games and award one of the gold medals before he headed back to the airport to follow up on a lost luggage.

Flaherty said seeded to the team to the US are gold medalists Archand Christian Bagsit (400m run), Henry Dagmil (long jump), Eric Shawn Cray (400m hurdles), Christopher Ulboc Jr. (3,000m steeplechase), Jesson Ramil Cid (decathlon) and the Bagsit-led 4x400m relay team, which includes Isidro del Prado Jr., Julius Nierras and Edgardo Alejan.

Others in Flaherty’s wish list are former marathon bet Eduard Buenavista who did 2:27 in the Milo Marathon this month, and hammer thrower Arniel Ferrera.

He said US-based Fil-American Tyler Ruiz, whose 2.09 broke the long standing Philippine mark of 2.06 set by Luis Juico in 1979, is going back to the US to train on his own.

“He did 2.20 in practice five days before the Games but I think the conditions and the pressure were too much in his first SEA Games,” said Flaherty. “I’ve told him he should continue training and get the numbers and come back.”

The news that the PSC would cut off its support to Ruiz, whose mother is a graphic designer in Los Angeles and his father a Mexican-Cuban, came as a sad news for the 22-year-old, 6-2 former NCAA Division 1 champion who came all the way on his own from Los Angeles to compete in the SEA Games.

Asst. chef de mission Monsour del Rosario, a former Olympian and taekwondo champion, also encouraged Ruiz to keep trying.

“When you learn to lose, you’ll know what it takes to win,” said del Rosario, who has been making the rounds cheering for the 210 athletes during the games.