SEA to adopt Juico’s reg’l sports plan

MANILA, Philippines - Southeast Asian sports leaders are adopting a proposal by Filipino athletics’ chief Phillip “Popoy” Juico pushing for a regional sports cooperation in order to keep up with the sporting powerhouses of Asia.

During a Southeast Asian sports summit in Singapore over the weekend, Juico, president of the Philippine Amateur Track and Field Athletic Association (PATAFA), batted for sports cooperation among nations in the region, much like the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) economic template, in order to raise its athletic standards.

The summit, according to Juico, was brought about by the recent 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, Korea, where Southeast Asian countries were only able to garner four medals out of the 141 at stake in athletics.

“That was less than three percent of the overall number, which was very disappointing and alarming,” said Juico.

This prompted Singapore athletic federation president Tang Wang Sey to write member nations of Southeast Asia to meet up and discuss what can be done about the slide in the region’s athletic prowess, thus giving birth to the summit.

“My proposal was to mirror or mimic the ASEAN economic approach, but this time, in athletics. Everyone was enthusiastic about the idea, especially Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, and soon, we will do the parameters on how this can be achieved.”

Pole vault legend Sergey Bubka of Ukraine, who attended the summit, also gave his thumbs-up to the proposal.

Under the plan, each country will prioritize a particular athletic field of specialty.

“The Philippines, for example, will take care of the long-distance events, such as the marathon, the 10,000 meters, etc. Thailand, on the other hand, will concentrate on the sprint events, such as the century dash, the 200 meters, among others. Another country will focus on the throw events like the discus, javelin and shotput, while another will take care of the jumping events,” he said.

Juico said that raising the standard of athletics in the region collectively is the way to do it, because there is strength in number when resources and ideas are brought together.

“We have limited resources if we will do our own programs individually. But, if we join efforts, we are about 600 million-strong in Southeast Asia, and that is a big number from where we could start,” said Juico. “That’s the only way to do it. We either survive together as wise men, or perish together as fools.”

Meanwhile, Mary Grace delos Santos and Cristabel Martes finished second and third, respectively, on Sunday in the half-marathon event of the prestigious Great Eastern Women’s Run 2014, Asia’s largest women-only race.

Delos Santos and Martes clocked 1:24 and 1:25 unofficially behind a Taiwanese champion.