This afternoon was certainly a time for celebration between the folks from the Philippine Olympic Committee, SportsP|us and Smart Communications Inc. as they sign a historic Memorandum of Agreement to support national athletes and teams with unparalleled connectivity, more online engagement and visibility in different sports events that they will be in this year and in the future.
The event was graced by James da Costa the head of SportsPlus partnerships, Bambol Tolentino the President of Philippine Olympic Committee, Jude Turcati the First Vice President for PLDT- Smart's Sports. There were also several athletes in the event including Carlos Baylon Jr. Gold Medalist in Wushu in the recent World Games (in China).
SportsP|us' James da Costa says "Standing beside athletes and equipping them with their needs is what we do. From grassroots development, we want to be part of our athletes efforts."
Jude Turcati from Smart says "The MVP has been beyond business to support the dreams of our athletes. The support has given us moments of pride on the world stage. Inspiring the youth, teamwork and resilience, and through this partnership we will get them connected especially when they compete abroad. We will be there every step of the way. We thank the POC and SportsP|us, the best is yet to come, para sa bayan, para sa Pilipino."
POC President Bambol Tolentino says "This is not for me, for POC, but all for our athletes. We put importance in preparations for the SEA Games, Asian Games, and the Olympics. Smart and SportsPlus has always been a big help ever since, and this may produce more medals. We are glad companies still support us, we thank them for their help with the government."
This starts a multi year support for funding the athletes training and preparation for the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics. This will certainly benefit them in their goals to bring honor to the country. The endless pursuit to make sure they do their best in their respective sports and the support of the private sector will surely be a welcome development with various sports organizations that this will benefit. They will also help in the grassroots programs, plus a few local ones which the POC encourages they do in the next few years.
The egames industry in the Philippines has done a lot as far as representing the country in ESports tournaments internationally. Games require hand eye coordination, teamwork, skill and is just about important as any sport there is, so during the Southeast Asian Games this coming November, we’re putting ourselves in contention with other Southeast Asian countries and developed our own national team for E Sports which we’ll properly call Sibol. (Growth in english)
The team will be managed by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Esports Union (PSEU) which is a group under the Philippine Olympic Committee. They would have to be good in Dota2, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, Arena of Valor, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Tekken 7 in order to beat other teams which makes this even difficult. The 30th Southeast Asian Games will also be held here in the country so that adds to the pressure these men or women will actually have to go through. Pro players will be invited and tryouts will also be done to complete the pool. This will happen on August 1-11, pretty close already. For more updates please check out sibolesports.ph and their social media pages (FB, IG, and Twitter) via the @SIBOLesports official account.
Go support your own team and make the country proud!
I have followed their quest during the Southeast Asian Games quite closely because I've met some of them during the press conference and send off party a couple of weeks ago. The Philippine Hockey team had me on the edge of my seat as they got so many issues that hindered them to be on top of their form, but in the end they did beat heavy favorite Thailand. Then Olympian Michael Martinez got the Silver Medal, which still made us all proud of his accomplishments heading to the next Winter Olympics. Aside from that, Filipina Ice Princess Alisson Petricheto also snatched a Bronze medal, made us completely ballistic at the bleachers, even at home. These medal hauls just proved we have a bright future on ice games and we were there also to welcome them home in SM Mega Fashion Hall.
Michael Martinez says "I am pretty happy about the program that I did during the SEA Games and I have also seen people feel good about it as well, so no regrets. The next thing I'll be concentrating on is a podium finish during the Olympics and hopefully the SEA Games will be easy after that. I also can't wait for the Philippines' hosting on 2019, that's where we're sure the medals will come in. I'll be flying to LA in the next couple of weeks so I can join in the next Olympic Qualifiers, hopefully win it as well. We have very difficult elements and choreography to perform and I'll try and make sure they'd be executed well."
Mr Edgar Tejerero SM LEI's President adds "We all know how these athletes prepared for hours in order to get gold for ice hockey, and a silver and bronze for figure skating. Mr. Sy dreamt of these to be the home of ice sports in the country, and now it's bearing fruit. Nobody believed a tropical country could produce athletes like these, your victory is not only ours but the whole country. Congratulations and welcome home!"
Congratulations to all our Ice Athletes and cheers for more acheivements in the next coming years! You did a good job and continue to inspire more people with what you're doing. You are our champions!
Thank you SM Lifestyle Entertainment Inc. for continuing to support them in and out of ice!
