Mas inuna pa nila ang hayop kaysa sa tao

While the idea of training online is a novel one, purists insist nothing beats doing it the old fashion way.

Case in point is the training sessions being conducted by the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP).

Since March, members of the national squad have been reduced to showing off their moves via Facebook Messenger and Zoom to their coaches. You see; national team members have all gone home to their respective provinces owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

When the world was plunged into a lockdown, Filipino athletes were told to abandon training camp, pack their bags and head home until the situation improves.

Nine months have gone and Filipino athletes remain holed up in their homes, unable to hold proper workouts in the presence of their coaches.

The last few weeks and months, they’ve been told to just remain on active mode to prevent rust from creeping.

At first, the concept looked like the brainchild of a smartass.

But as the days rolled into weeks and the weeks turned into months, there has been little progress in their training.

This affects those who have bright chances of making the Tokyo Olympics next year.

So far, four Filipinos have earned Olympic berths: boxers Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and world champion gymnast Carlos Yulo.

Guess what?

Those who are abroad are actually the ones doing better in terms of training.

Aren’t we supposed to be giving our best shot in Tokyo?

Obiena, who is based in Formia, Italy, competed in almost 20 meets, mostly in Europe the last 12 months. Yulo, in Japan, is also in the thick of training and competing as well.

Marcial has decided that he can no longer afford to wait and is now is Los Angeles working with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card. Magno is the one remaining and is trying to get by in Iloilo province. “Nothing beats the traditional training setup,” national team head coach Pat Gaspi said yesterday.

“The last few months, this has been the case with our fighters who were told to train behind closed doors,” he said.

“We can’t afford to have this kind of training because you are prevented from communicating and telling them what exactly needs to be done.”

Gaspi said the fighters are actually ready to report for training camp anytime.

The things is, authorities seem to be acting slowly on the request of sports officials to allow some athletes to ease back into training. Gaspi, however, said other countries have been training. “India, Kazakhstan and Thailand have been practicing,” Gaspi lamented.

Interestingly, authorities have ruled that cockfighting and horseracing are ready to roll.

“Yeah, you’re right,” athletics chief Philip Juico said over the weekend.

“Mas inuna pa nila ang hayop kaysa sa tao.”

Juico’s has a point although you can’t totally blame the government for not acting fast.

The pandemic is not yet over. It is far from over.

Still, if the Philippine Basketball Association, football and volleyball as well as cockfighting and horseracing can get the go-signal, why not those whose eyes are on the Olympics?

Aren’t we supposed to be giving our best shot in Tokyo? Time is running out.