Reign of the superwomen

The reign of the superwomen. Four gold medals from five Filipina athletes in the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia. People didn’t even realize it after the national golf team won two golds. It took the daughter of Cebuano street food vendors winning a gold in skateboarding, of all things, to make us realize we’re missing the point: there are sports - and athletes - that we have been overlooking. And when you analyze what makes the most sense for a country like the Philippines, these women warriors are pointing the way, showing what fools we’ve been.

Hidilyn Diaz is a prime example. Given a break a decade ago by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez, she has steadily improved. Now in her late 20’s she is at her peak, and poised for a fourth Olympic participation. Is there a sport any more cost-efficient than weightlifting? The equipment never wears out, you don’t need to bring it with you when you travel, and you can do weight training pretty much anywhere. So that just leaves the basic and necessary cost of travel to and from competitions. As a national athlete, that’s covered by the PSC. And it’s tax-free, too.

Golf has its own advantages, too. Although seemingly expensive, it actually isn’t that far removed from other sports in terms of costs. Membership and green fees and even equipment may be sponsored, as many clubs would happily support a champion athlete. Naturally, parents initially shoulder the sometimes painful cost of teaching their kids the game. But when they start winning, the golfers themselves get paid handsomely to teach. This trickle-down effect has kept the game at a high level over the past three decades, with older golfers continually passing on their learning to the younger ones. The game has a lot of unique appeal, too. After all, how many sports require you to walk in fresh air and sunshine?

Also golf, like other sports, allows for one athlete to win multiple medals. This is always an argument supporting individual sports over team sports like basketball. When you weigh the cost of travel of a handful of golfers over twelve or more basketball players, their coaches and their support staff, coupled with the potential to win only one medal, the difference seems glaring. Golf clubs are also compact and easy to carry, and don’t really need special care. And in other countries, they’re readily available. On top of all that, golfers probably have the longest life spans among active athletes outside of board game players. 

Skateboarding, for now, is still treated as an underground sport in the Philippines. The decidedly North American practice took root in the US (particularly California) in the 1960’s, and has become part of their culture of self-expression. In the Philippines, despite exposure to international competitions like the X-Games, it is still perceived to be on the fringes. But in the last 20 years, as more sugar plantations and rice fields have been replaced by urban sprawl, the potential playground has become geometrically larger. All that remains is for local governments to allocate land (which they have plenty of) for skate parks. There, the youth can experiment and learn the sport, and simultaneously thumb their noses at disapproving elders. 

Like billiards until the last decade or so, skateboarding and other street sports still have a residual image problem. The impression of previous generations was that it is practiced by the lazy and unemployed. Now, it is gradually being looked at as a wholesome activity that can win respect and a way out or poverty.

More significantly, the winning ways of our women in Indonesia shows just how capable our female athletes and officials are. Last December, this column put out a yearend piece on the impressive accomplishments of Filipinas in global sports. In many other industries, women have taken the lead. Some data from the Technical Skills Development Authority (TESDA) reveals that up to 70 percent of the welders the country sends abroad are now women. Apparently, only certain Middle Eastern countries do not accept females in traditionally male professions. The general feedback is that women are less likely to get drunk or get into trouble, and obviously won’t get anyone pregnant.

Also, women athletes are generally stronger after having given birth. Both the hormonal boost from the pregnancy, and the confidence of having surpassed the pain of labor both contribute to transcendent performances. This first came to prominence in the 1980’s with Olympic champions like Evelyn Ashford and her generation, many of whom won Olympic gold medals after giving birth.

All told, the PSC and Philippine Olympic Committee would benefit from a joint talent identification program targeting female athletes. They’ve been overlooked for far too long.