By Erick Gandecila
CNU Communication Intern
CEBU CITY (July 18, 2024) –The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) cited the city’s grassroots program as a factor behind the success of its gymnastics team.
Edward Hayco, PSC commissioner, said the performance of the city’s gymnasts during the last Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CViRAA) Meet is proof that its grassroots program is working.
The local team secured 44 gold medals during the CViRAA.
Hayco hopes that the city’s gymnasts will not rest on their laurels and will continue to pursue more accomplishments based on their grassroots program’s vision manifesto.
“It was not a doable or achievable one in a half years ago, it was like an impossible dream katong manifesto. I never thought they could make it, so it was almost like reaching for the stars,” Hayco said during PSC’s recent Grassroots Sports teleradyo program over Sugboanon Channel.
Hayco championed the grassroots program when he served as chairman of the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) before he moved to the national arena with PSC.
Among the programs, he strongly supported, even as a private citizen after his stint with CCSC, was gymnastics for which he managed to help set up a gym in Labangon called the Gymnastics Academy of Cebu.
Vision manifesto
Hayco said the gymnastics team’s vision manifesto includes goals to secure medals in several major local sports events such as the Palarong Pambansa.
It also aims to produce athletes who will represent the country during the Asian and SEA Games and the Olympics, he added.
The team is now busy preparing for this year’s Palaro in Cebu City, he said.
But the ultimate goal of the team, Hayco added, is to produce a training pool of 500 gymnasts from the city’s public schools.
Mikhaela Kirsten Silverio, a national gold medallist and director of the city’s Gymnastics Academy of Cebu (GAC), said her team has achieved several accomplishments based on their vision manifesto.
She said her team secured high medal tallies during the CViRAA and the Batang Pinoy or Philippine Youth Games last year.
Silverio said she never expected her athletes to win big during their competitions last year, especially that GAC was still in the preparation stage.
“Wala gyud mi ga-expect last year and this year (to win big). Pero last year, nakakuha na (og medals),” she added.
Silverio credited the PSC and the Department of Education (DepEd) for the support they gave to her athletes, and the athletes’ parents for being supportive of their children.
She said the City, PSC, and DepEd organized GAC at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It formally opened to the public in February 2022.
Silverio said GAC trains its athletes at the Labangon Elementary School gymnasium.
When GAC started out, it already trained 120 young athletes. It is now training more than 300 gymnasts from the city’s public schools, she added.
Silverio said it has reached to a point that GAC has become an unofficial training center for gymnastics due to the high number of potential athletes it is catering.
Challenges
Hayco said one challenge that GAC had to face was how to attract more aspiring gymnasts, especially that gymnastics is known as a “sport for the rich.”
But the GAC overcame this challenge through sheer ingenuity and resourcefulness.
He said that the PSC and the Cebu City Government also assisted GAC through the acquisition of sports equipment via donation or otherwise.
Hayco said the PSC has asked the national government to appropriate at least P30 million for the acquisition of new equipment for GAC.
Hayco said PSC’s grassroots sports initiative aims to give opportunities to young athletes from various backgrounds a chance to excel in their field regardless of financial background.
It was not a doable or achievable one in a half years ago, it was like an impossible dream katong manifesto. I never thought they could make it, so it was almost like reaching for the stars.
Edward Hayco, PSC commissioner
“Mao sad nay challenge nato. How can we bring down a sport that is so expensive and for the wealthy down to the grassroots. Because we want those in the public schools that they are as good as the wealthy athletes,” he added.
Another challenge that GAC had to face was how to develop its wards not just into first-class athletes but also as upright citizens.
Silverio admitted that she and her fellow coaches strive to motivate and challenge their wards to not just excel in the sport but also in life.
Hayco also credits Silverio and senior gymnasts working at GAC behind the success of its young athletes. | RMN / eg / with jkv
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