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THE Philippine Sports Commission has tapped standouts
of the just-concluded Palarong Pambansa to be trained for the 2010
Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez said
some 40 medalists have been selected from the annual Palaro held in
Puerto Princesa. They will undergo a series of tryouts to be
conducted by PSC Commissioners Eric Loretizo and Joey Mundo.
Ramirez believes in forming a
national training pool from where the representatives to the Youth
Olympics will be selected. The pool will have players 18-years-old
and below.
“We have to focus on training
our young athletes. Now is the right time to search for new breed of
talents who will represent the country in future international
tournaments,” said Ramirez.
The PSC is currently negotiating
with both public and private sectors to form the national junior
training pool.
Ramirez said the PSC has already
allotted P5 million to cover the scholarship, accommodation,
allowances and other benefits of athletes who will qualify for the
training pool.
“We have to start preparing
early because we have to make our athletes competitive enough for
the 2010 Youth Olympics,” said Ramirez.
“We are also setting our sights
on the 2012 London Olympics. We may discover potential athletes from
the national youth training pool and mold them into world-class
athletes,” Ramirez added.
PSC’s program will focus on
Olympics sports such as archery, athletics, boxing, tae kwon do,
swimming, weightlifting, fencing, rowing, tennis, gymnastics,
shooting, beach volleyball and judo.
--Emil Noguera
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