“Believe you can win, otherwise you have already lost”
SEND OFF events for national athletes competing in major international competitions has been a tradition. The primary goal of these activities is to inspire and prep up our flag bearers before they do battle in the foreign sports arena.
Although send offs may have proven effective in giving inspiration to athletes in the past, the mental toughness, confidence, and drive to win are only gained through a continuous and long process through logistical support, training, competition exposure, including sports science and psychology.
The lack of an all-out and prioritized support for our athletes, such as consistent national and international exposure, top-of-the-line training equipment and competition uniforms of international standards, as well as nutritional needs, are indeed demoralizing.
Although most, if not all national athletes have dedicated themselves to giving their best for flag and country, the meager allowances and meal subsidy of our mostly poor athletes, which is very important for them to share with their loved ones as it is part of our culture, have deeply affected their focus.
And what is more appalling is the internal bickering among top sports officials, as well as accusations of alleged graft and corruption not only in government but also in the private sports sector in the midst of these misgivings.
In the recent joint send off for athletes competing in the Thailand Southeast Asian Games by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission, one would probably be inspired, if not impressed by the inspirational talks of sports leaders.
However, one would also agree with the speeches made that an athlete should believe and have a mind set that he or she can win and should not settle for less than the gold medal, otherwise he or she has already lost even before leaving local soil.
Our sports leaders should have the sensitivity to act as a team and not take swipes at each other in public especially in front of our flag bearers raring to do battle for the country’s pride and honor.
They should collectively look into one direction to achieve the goal and that is for our athletes to win as many gold medals as they can for the country to retain the SEA Games overall title despite these distractions.
And to all the athletes seeing action in Thailand, always think you can win and go for the gold. But whatever the outcome may be, the most important thing is that you gave it all your best for love of country.
Mabuhay ang atletang Pilipino!
