Tag: focus

Gov’t must invest and focus on ‘sports economy’, say lawmakers

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FILE–The Philippine national team had a four-medal haul in the 2023 Asian Games with pole vault star EJ Obiena and jiujitsu women’s stars Meggie Ochoa and Annie Ramirez leading the way.

Representatives Alfred Delos Santos and Joel Chua push for strengthening “sports economy,” urging different government sectors to support Filipino athletes through various programs and policies.

The two congressmen said that recognizing the sports sector as a sports economy will allow major investments from the private sector and government to pour in to elevate the Philippines’ ranking in the international sports scene like the Olympics.

“Looking to the future, I call for recognition and intensive focus on the sports economy so that sports will be among the same category of national development priorities as agriculture, services, manufacturing, infrastructure, and information technology,” said deputy minority leader Alfred Delos Santos in a statement.

READ: Paris Olympics-bound athletes are ready and equipped, says PSC chief

“By treating the sports sector as a sports economy, the government and private sector can pour into it the massive investments needed to elevate the Philippines to a sports powerhouse in Asia and the world. Only with massive investments can we sustainably level up our medal harvests in the Olympics, world championships, and regional competitions,” Ang Probinsyano Partylist solon Joel Chua expressed.

While donations and sponsorships pour in for Filipino athletes, the lawmakers said that these are “not enough and short term, and not sustainable.”

READ: How Atletang Ayala supports Olympic hopefuls

While Filipino athletes are preparing for the Paris Olympics, Chua called on the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) to include sports in the trade and investment chapter.

“To the NEDA, I appeal that they recognize, promote, and support the Sports Economy. The Philippine Development Plan mentions sports only five times in its human resource chapter, and none of those five times are about sports as human capital, investment, or economic activities. In the trade and investment chapter, there is zero mention of sports as an economic or investment sector,” he said.

The Ang Probinsyano Partylist solon also urged the Board of Investment on the creation of a local industry that will massively produce high quality equipment for the sports sector. He also nudged the Department of Finance to craft policies “that promote investments in sports as human capital” to further invite companies engaged with sports to register in the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chua further stated that major investment in sports will extra boost the efforts of the sports community in the country.

READ: Track stars could up number of PH bets in Paris to 23

“I commend the ongoing efforts of Gilas Pilipinas, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the Philippine Olympic Committee, and all the other sports groups. They are doing the unenviable and herculean tasks needed in Philippine sports. Their plans and programs need the super boost and upsizing that only massive investments can produce.”

The Philippines could have as many as 23 athletes competing at the Paris Olympics set from July 26 to August with hurdlers John Cabang and Lauren Hoffman and sprinter Kristina Knott just awaiting confirmation of inclusion.

Gilas Pilipinas is also looking to book a trip to the Paris Games via the Fiba Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia. Gilas is two wins away from an Olympic berth, facing Brazil later at 8:30 p.m. for a spot in the OQT final.



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READ: Gilas faces Brazil with Paris Olympics just two wins away


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With Final 8 chances slim, Team USA turns focus to Olympics

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Team USA’s Micah Christenson in the VNL Week 3 in Manila. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — USA skipper Micah Christenson has accepted they won’t make it to the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Final Eight despite the slim chance, but he looks to make the most of their Manila experience to entertain Filipinos and prepare for the Paris Olympics 2024.

Christenson had a playmaking masterpiece of 41 excellent sets to treat the Filipino fans with USA’s 25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9 win over Brazil on Thursday evening at Mall of Asia Arena.

The veteran setter, who is averaging 30.7 excellent sets per game in the VNL, gave his best effort to greet and sign autographs of their supporters at the fan zone after their game.

READ: VNL 2024: Team USA overcomes Brazil for first win in Manila

“Back in the United States, we play in certain areas where other teams’ fans fill the gym a little bit more. So, this feels like a pretty true home game for us and we’re very grateful for that,” said Christenson, whose teammates also felt at home with the hospitality and energy of the Filipinos.

“I can’t say enough about the support. We felt it a lot, even being here in the Philippines. So now we’re finally here, and we get to feel it in the stadium, it’s something really really special and we can’t say enough about it. We can’t thank the fans enough for being here and supporting us.”

USA, the runner-up of last year’s VNL, still has a chance to the Final Eight with a 4-6 record in 11th place but Christenson is already shifting their focus to the Olympics.

READ: Team USA has ‘mountain to climb’ as VNL unfolds in Manila

“We’re probably not gonna make the VNL Finals so what we’re gonna do is try to build and work our way towards the Olympic Games and getting ready. Tonight was just the first step, the first building block,” said Christenson. “Hopefully, for these next two games, we continue to get just a little bit better.”

“We can do a little bit more in certain phases of the game but we’re having that mindset of just getting a little bit better and trusting the process with the building blocks that we can build,” he added. 

USA wraps up its VNL campaign against Germany on Saturday at 11 a.m., before facing fellow crowd-favorite Japan on Sunday at 7 p.m.



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“I think we’ve shown over the years that we are a very resilient team. We know how to respond to a lot of difficult situations so, we’re gonna fix a few things, but at the same time, we’re gonna trust our process,” Christenson said. “I think, like I said before, it’s a step in the right direction. It’s not perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction.”

In hostile Boston, Mavs’ Irving aims to keep focus on NBA Finals

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Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks looks to pass the ball during the third quarter against the Boston Celtics in Game Two of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 09, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.  (Getty Images via AFP)

NEW YORK – Resigned to the villain’s role in Boston, Dallas star Kyrie Irving is less concerned with silencing hostile Celtics fans than with quieting self doubt and leading the Mavs in a must-win NBA Finals game five.
“Let’s just call it what it is,” Irving said Sunday as the Mavs prepared to try once again to fend off elimination in the championship series, in which they trail the Celtics 3-1.
“When the fans are cheering ‘Kyrie sucks’ they feel like they have a psychological edge, and that’s fair,’” said Irving, who was hounded by Celtics fans still rankled by his departure in 2019 after two seasons with the team.
Amid the jeers he delivered two sub-par performances in games one and two, the Mavs eventually falling 0-3 down before a blowout victory in game four to extend the series.
“Of course, if I’m not making shots or turning the ball over, that makes it even more of a pressing issue that they can stay on me for,” Irving said.
“I think in order to silence even the self-doubt, let alone the crowd doubt, but the self-doubt when you make or miss shots, that’s just as important as making sure I’m leading the team the right way and being human through this experience, too, and telling them how I feel.”
Sunday’s victory ended Irving’s own 13-game losing streak against the Celtics.
He’s cognizant of his complicated personal history with the team, which he said stretches back further than his petulant demonstrations when his Brooklyn Nets were swept by the  Celtics in the first round in 2022.
He said Sunday it started when he arrived in Boston in 2017, when he failed to engage with the history of the storied franchise or, as he put it “the cult that they have here.
“That’s what they expect you to do as a player,” Irving said. “They expect you to seamlessly buy into the Celtics’ pride, buy into everything Celtics. And if you don’t, then you’ll be outed.
“I’m one of the people that’s on the outs,” he added with a laugh. “I did it to myself.”
Now Irving is more concerned with the task facing the Mavericks as they try to become the first NBA team to erase an 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series.
“Most importantly, (it’s) not making this about me or getting into the energy with anyone else other than my teammates,” Irving said, adding that the Mavs must think “about the goal that we have in front of us as best we can, and try not to get tired of everyone talking about the history that has not been made.”
Irving, who won a title alongside LeBron James in Cleveland in 2016, said he had encouraged his teammates — many in the Finals for the first time — to embrace and enjoy the moment.
“We got a chance to accomplish one of our goals, which is to make it back to Boston,” Irving said. “We have another goal in front of us, and that’s to make it back to Dallas.”



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Preseason win ‘nothing’ as Maroons focus on real target: UAAP crown

On: By: admin


UP Fighting Maroons’ Francis Lopez in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 86 men’s basketball finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

University of the Philippines (UP) retained its status as the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup champion, but it didn’t matter too much for the Fighting Maroons even though they hurdled a familiar, bitter foe.

“To be honest, nothing really. This is just the preseason, like I said, and this is nothing for us,” reigning UAAP Rookie of the Year Francis Lopez said after the Maroons put together a second half comeback for a 69-66 triumph over La Salle on Wednesday night in San Juan City.

It is no secret where the Maroons have their eyes on—a drastically bigger target: Another UAAP crown.

“We just tried to win today and go home cause we have a lot of things to work on,” Lopez, the tournament’s Defensive Player of the Year, nonchalantly said. “This is not really our goal, but we just thank God, [because] we worked really hard for this. Our goal is the UAAP, not this one, so it’s just another game for us.”

UP has become a powerhouse team in the UAAP in the last decade or so, clinching its second championship in 2022 and coming close to adding to that in the next two years only to fall short to Katipunan neighbor Ateneo and then to La Salle.

And UP is not making it a secret that those consecutive heartbreaking seasons are the Maroon’s motivation to be better, the wounds still fresh even for the fans who filled the Filoil EcoOil Centre on Independence Day.

“We’re on a roller coaster. We gotta be consistent about what we do, what we plan about and coach Gold (Monteverde) keeps telling us that we just gotta be consistent,” Lopez said. “If the shots are not going in, you just continue, especially on defense.”

While consistency still has to be worked on by UP, its heart and hunger to win games were exuded by the Maroons, who aren’t wasting any time to improve. They are set to start a training camp in Serbia that will last until June 30 before flying again to South Korea.

“I’d say not even 50 percent,” Lopez said when asked about the readiness of UP. “We have a lot of things to work on like consistency, mostly, and like what coach Gold keeps saying, keeps on telling us, to not be complacent as well.

“So whatever team we face, we can’t be complacent. And that’s what we did tonight (Wednesday).”



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