Diaz lauds Cebu's grassroots program
Olympic lifter Hidilyn Diaz, who produced the Philippines' first gold medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, extolled the grassroots development of the Cebu Weightlifting Association (CWA).
Yesterday, Diaz joined the CWA led by its president Felix "Boy" O. Tiukinhoy, Jr. in signning a memorandum of agreement with the Sisters of Mary School-Boystown in Minglanilla.
Diaz is thankful to Tiukinhoy and the CWA for all the efforts he is putting into the sports especially in the grassroots level starting with its pilot project at SMS.
“Nagpapasalamat ako sa CWA. Sobrang saya ko dahil ginawa nyo na to. Napakalaking bagay ito. Hindi ako forever magiging gold medalist. Sila ang susunod sa akin. Swerte ang Cebu na meron kayong isang Boy Tiukinhoy na nag-iisip para sa development ng weightlifting dito ngayon kaya suportahan natin," said Diaz, who is now traning her sights on winning that elusive Olympic gold medal for Phl two years from now in Tokyo, Japan.
By bringing in Diaz, who made history for ending the country's 20-year medal drought in the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, Tiukinhoy hopes the students at Boystown will be inspired by her story and will also take weightlifting as a sport.
"There are over 3,000 students in Boystown, and that is some sort of a captured market already since they all stay there," said Tiukinhoy. "We hope to teach them the sport, give them the right equipment and perhaps we can discover a few who can excel in the sport."
"We all know that after the Olympic silver medal, Hidilyn got millions as a reward and she will get at least P6 million more for winning the gold medal. But it's not only the money that a potential weightlifter can receive by excelling in the sport, it's also that chance to finish a college degree through a scholarship," added Tiukinhoy.
Weightlifting is now part of the events of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. and one goal of CWA's partnership with SMS Boystown is to provide the CESAFI member schools a potential pool of weightlifters than they can tap for their college programs.—