On the wins and the bads of life

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Philippine Dragon Boat Federation: 3 World Records, Ignored

From July 03-08 2011, the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation will compete in the 10th International Dragon Boat Racing Championship in Tampa Florida. The country’s rowers are three time world champions, once in 2007 and twice in 2009. The PDBF rowers got a 41.29-second world record in the 200-meter men’s category standard boat and won first place during the World Championship in Sydney, Austraila back in 2007. They broke their own record in 2009 when they won the championship in Prague, Czech Republic with a a whopping 40.02 seconds for the same competition. In the same year, the won another gold medal for the mixed category with another world record, 43.50 secs.
It says an article in the PDBF site dated July 26, 2011 that the team lacks the funding to make it to the trip because they are unable to pay for airfare and are not given allowance. Team captain, Usman Anterola, expresses her sadness over the lack of recognition despite the world that they currently hold. The article also talks about their need for financing of uniforms as well. Anterola says that majority of members are from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) so the support they receive is from the military and not from the country’s sports association.
Thank heavens that they are currently on their way to compete in California. But before getting on board that plane, they had to scour for help to get financial backing. This is the case for almost every competition they participated in. Ramie Llano, in the same article, recounts the difficulty of having to gather enough money before they were able to participate in the Sydney World Championships.
It is also said in the same article that the team has been using the same paddles since 2007. It’s nearly been 4 years, you guys.
With three world records tucked under their belt, it’s a surprise how the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation almost missed their chance of defending their title in this year’s World Champions. Imagine this: you train day in and out for the sport you love and so you can bring honor to your country but you don’t even get a measly sponsorship from the National Sports Association of the Philippines. Any athlete will attest that training is enough to consume your time and energy and things like these are easily unnecessary worries for athletes.
The lack of the support has plagued the lives of Filipino Athletes for years. Busting your arse off in training isn’t much of a sweat compared to being brushed off and ignored by the same people whose country you’re representing and fighting for. If you’ve read this far and still have not felt an ounce of sympathy for these athletes then you must be: a) not an athlete b) not a Filipino c) must be kicked out of this country. This is an issue of misplaced attention of the media. Philippine news is focused so much on entertainment that we forget those who deserves that 5 minute news bit the most. I mean, how does the return of Ruffa Guiterrez’s shoes matter in the greater scheme of things. I honestly don’t care.
And don’t tell me we give more than plenty of support for the athletes. Basketball does not count because all of you, Filipinos, are addicted to this sport. And sure, the Azkals have been getting too much of the limelight recently but these boys, I believe, have threaded a long way before they got here. You think these boys have it easy? They don’t. The only reason why they are able to continue playing for the national team is because they can afford it. But not everyone is as affluent as they are. Even so, this is not just an issue of money. Why do you think that most of these football players put priority to a different Football club over the national? The lack of support for the past years, of course.
But I’m losing my way here. Let me get back to my point..
So I hope in a few days time, win or lose, I hope we graciously welcome our Filipino athletes when they come back. It’s high time that we give them a heroes welcome because they are exactly just that.
And next time, let’s give a little more support for country’s athletes. I beg all of you!
sources:http://www.pdbf.com/?p=1057http://www.pdbf.com/?p=1072
article originally found here

Philippine Dragon Boat Federation: 3 World Records, Ignored

From July 03-08 2011, the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation will compete in the 10th International Dragon Boat Racing Championship in Tampa Florida. The country’s rowers are three time world champions, once in 2007 and twice in 2009. The PDBF rowers got a 41.29-second world record in the 200-meter men’s category standard boat and won first place during the World Championship in Sydney, Austraila back in 2007. They broke their own record in 2009 when they won the championship in Prague, Czech Republic with a a whopping 40.02 seconds for the same competition. In the same year, the won another gold medal for the mixed category with another world record, 43.50 secs.

It says an article in the PDBF site dated July 26, 2011 that the team lacks the funding to make it to the trip because they are unable to pay for airfare and are not given allowance. Team captain, Usman Anterola, expresses her sadness over the lack of recognition despite the world that they currently hold. The article also talks about their need for financing of uniforms as well. Anterola says that majority of members are from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) so the support they receive is from the military and not from the country’s sports association.

Thank heavens that they are currently on their way to compete in California. But before getting on board that plane, they had to scour for help to get financial backing. This is the case for almost every competition they participated in. Ramie Llano, in the same article, recounts the difficulty of having to gather enough money before they were able to participate in the Sydney World Championships.

It is also said in the same article that the team has been using the same paddles since 2007. It’s nearly been 4 years, you guys.

With three world records tucked under their belt, it’s a surprise how the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation almost missed their chance of defending their title in this year’s World Champions. Imagine this: you train day in and out for the sport you love and so you can bring honor to your country but you don’t even get a measly sponsorship from the National Sports Association of the Philippines. Any athlete will attest that training is enough to consume your time and energy and things like these are easily unnecessary worries for athletes.

The lack of the support has plagued the lives of Filipino Athletes for years. Busting your arse off in training isn’t much of a sweat compared to being brushed off and ignored by the same people whose country you’re representing and fighting for. If you’ve read this far and still have not felt an ounce of sympathy for these athletes then you must be: a) not an athlete b) not a Filipino c) must be kicked out of this country. This is an issue of misplaced attention of the media. Philippine news is focused so much on entertainment that we forget those who deserves that 5 minute news bit the most. I mean, how does the return of Ruffa Guiterrez’s shoes matter in the greater scheme of things. I honestly don’t care.

And don’t tell me we give more than plenty of support for the athletes. Basketball does not count because all of you, Filipinos, are addicted to this sport. And sure, the Azkals have been getting too much of the limelight recently but these boys, I believe, have threaded a long way before they got here. You think these boys have it easy? They don’t. The only reason why they are able to continue playing for the national team is because they can afford it. But not everyone is as affluent as they are. Even so, this is not just an issue of money. Why do you think that most of these football players put priority to a different Football club over the national? The lack of support for the past years, of course.

But I’m losing my way here. Let me get back to my point..

So I hope in a few days time, win or lose, I hope we graciously welcome our Filipino athletes when they come back. It’s high time that we give them a heroes welcome because they are exactly just that.

And next time, let’s give a little more support for country’s athletes. I beg all of you!

sources:
http://www.pdbf.com/?p=1057
http://www.pdbf.com/?p=1072

article originally found here

(Source: iiiloveyougypsyeyes)

Reblogged 6 months ago from kapaow

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