Low and slow
I’m still not over the fact that Singapore got its first Olympic gold medal. And Indonesia, for that matter.
Let’s even bring Vietnam into the picture. They got their first gold in the men’s 10m air pistol after nearly 64 years of being in the same situation as us—woefully lacking in sports funds and support from the government. And yet we’re stuck “equaling” our best performance from Atlanta 1994, where we won a silver medal in boxing. What gives? I’m not about to get all into the lack of support for our athletes by national and local government— unless, of course, you’re basketball and a multimillionaire suddenly decides to open his war chest to you.
What I am beginning to question is the effort we put in. Even Gilas Pilipinas put together a shambling mess of a team two months prior to the FIBA tournament and hoped against hope they would be able to trounce other national teams that were (a) more athletic or (b) trained together longer.
The first factor we may have been able to overcome since Filipinos seem to be naturally quick on their feet. But you don’t rush greatness (the Vietnamese gold medalist was 40 something, just for context). There’s a cohesion that isn’t forced when a team trains together for a long time.
It makes me think of a phrase they throw around at barbecues: low and slow.
That pig might seem tough now, but give it a few hours over the coals and it will be succulent, glistening lechon that anyone would pay a pretty penny to have.
And yet our sports officials are hoping to speed up the lechon process by microwaving a cheap cut of pork and hoping for the results to go well. They expect “fast food” procedures to yield fine dining results.
They’ve now resorted to calling in Filipino-foreign athletes from abroad and tossing them straight into competition while expecting that, with minimal training and support, they can hold their own against international athletes who have been training since they were kids. But they balk at long-term plans for our younger athletes who, ironically, have the better chances at excelling in their sports because they have more years to perfect their craft.
Our sports training should be low and slow—start when the kids are young, expose them to international competition early, and ease them into their crafts.
What have we got to lose? The current plan of slapping together a team of Filipino-foreigners at the stroke of midnight and hoping for the best certainly isn’t working. Maybe then the Philippines will be able to produce a Joseph Schooling, you know, the Singaporean who beat Michael Phelps for gold?