‘Aian Asks’

I RECEIVED an invitation from Aian Guanzon of “Aian Asks” to appear on his program to explain the recent successes in Philippine sports.

According to the bio of the “Aian Asks” Facebook * page, “Watch as #Aianasks experts and authorities about things you should also know.”

The page has 16,000 followers and covers a wide range of subjects and topics. Guests usually have several minutes to explain “Aian’s Ask,” no pun intended.

As I earlier mentioned, I’ve been invited to be a guest on Aian’s show to talk about the recent wins in Philippine sports.

The recent successes in Philippine sports is a result of better access to training and competition abroad and the enormous private and government funding given to them like Manny Pacquiao, Yuka Saso, Carlos Yulo, Hidilyn Diaznaranjo and several others so that they can compete overseas.

Diaz-naranjo and our women’s football national team, about 80 percent of whom were raised and competed abroad, are at the peak of their respective careers which allows both their national sports associations (NSAS) and the government to save money for developmental needs.

Yulo is another example of an athlete getting access to training, nutrition, competition abroad and funding from both the government and private sectors and the results speak for themselves.

The common denominator for success is training and competition abroad fueled by huge funds.

In my program “Sports For All” this Wednesday, my guest will be Kely Nascimento, who, according to theguardian.com, “Kely Nascimento-deluca: ‘If there’s a time to use Pelé’s name it’s for something like this’ Pelé’s daughter on how she came to make a documentary on women’s football, racism in Brazil and the fight for equality.”

“There are no words,” says Kely Nascimento-deluca, the eldest daughter of Pelé, when I asked about her journey from women’s football novice to documentary maker on the subject. “I’ve always been very into football. I love football. It’s like Christmas, every game in Brazil. It’s hard to explain the feeling, the electricity during a game.”

On Saturday, August 13, three-time Bellator MMA world champion Rafael Carvalho will be my guest. I’ll ask Rafael what he is up to these days and what are the things he considers before joining an MMA promotion.