Skater's mom should emulate
parents of chessers So, Paragua
"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you control your own destiny." ALBERT ELLIS
By Alex P. Vidal
If the alleged "no government support" issue has been blown out of proportions, Teresa, the mother of Sochi Winter Olympics skater Michael Martinez, is partly to blame.
News that she mortgaged her house in Mandaluyong City for the trip of her son came out two days after the opening ceremonies in Sochi, Russia, the sporting event witnessed "live" by millions of TV audience all over the world last Sunday morning in Manila.
Teresa's sob story plus the other telenovela-type articles about 17-year-old Michael's struggle to qualify for the biennial Games spread like wild fire in mass and social media. Followed by the bashing of President Noynoy Aquino's "corrupt" government.
While fans from other snowy countries were cheering for their athletes and monitoring the medal tally, Filipinos, "touched" by the "shabby" treatment of Michael, were up in arms against the government.
ALLEGATIONS
It turned out Michael was never neglected contrary to allegations. Both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) did their parts to ensure that Michael makes it to the Sochi Games. The stipend released by the PSC for Michael was the same amount given to other national athletes who compete abroad. No special treatment. Everyone is treated equally under the policy. Even if figure skating is no grassroots event.
But Teresa apparently wanted more. She probably wanted the government to also fund her trip to Sochi thus when the PSC failed or refused to give more, she went to media. If she had mental honesty, she would have revealed to media that her son also received financial windfall from corporate sponsors led by the Sy family who owns Asia's biggest malls in and outside the Philippines. Plus the financial bonanza Michael will get after the Olympics.
MILLIONS
Under the law, the PSC cannot shell out millions of pesos requested by an individual athlete. The NSA or national sports association accredited by PSC is tasked to facilitate the request for funding if it is more than P50,000. It's the job of the Philippine Skating Union as NSA to make a formal request, not the parent of an athlete.
Teresa should emulate the parents of chess grand masters Mark Paragua and Wesley So. Instead of bellyaching and slandering the government, they initiated their own initiatives and tapped corporate sponsors to build the chess career of their sons. They didn't condemn the government. They did not go to media to cry foul and sensationalize their sons' predicament. The parents of these chess players are aware that the rise of their sons to the pinnacle of chess will be derailed if they will rely everything to the cash-strapped government thus they paddled their own canoes and cultivated their gardens.
PLAYERS
And these chess players are no peanuts. So is currently ranked No. 1 in the Philippines, No. 2 among juniors and No. 28 in the world. He was previously the strongest Under-16 player in the world and, in October 2008, was rated 2610. So became the youngest player ever in the history of the game to break the 2600 ELO barrier, breaking the record previously held by Magnus Carlsen.
The youngest Filipino master ever, at nine years of age, Paragua also became the youngest Filipino GM ever at 20 (until Wesley So surpassed it), beating out Eugenio Torre's record by about two years.
Paragua qualified for the 2004 World Championship in Tripoli, Libya, where he was eliminated by Viktor Bologan of Moldova in the first round 1-3. He also qualified for World Cup Chess 2005 (qualifying tournament for world championship) and upset Armenian GM Sergei Movsesian in the first round before narrowly losing in the tie breaker against Alexey Dreev of Russia in the second round.
Paragua became the first Filipino to reach 2600 FIDE after he placed second in the Asian Zonal 3.3 Chess Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Aside from Paragua and So, there were other athletes who competed in other world events like the Paralympics and World Cup who never received substantial financial support but, motivated by deep patriotism and love for sports, opted to keep quite and just show their talents on world stage. They made their countrymen proud with their performances and their parents didn't raise any whimper to sensationalize their predicament.
Showing posts with label Michael Martinez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Martinez. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Much ado about Michael Martinez
Much ado about Michael Martinez
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change." ROBERT ANTHONY
By Alex P. Vidal
There they go again. Because of too much excitement upon seeing a lone Pinoy entry carrying the national flag in the opening ceremonies and performing in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, some fans have embarked on usual buck-passing and blaming game, hitting the government for its "failure" to support the 17-year-old figure skater Michael Martinez.
To paraphrase JFK's famous quote, why can't we just think of what we can do for our country instead of always thinking of what our country can do for us?
It seems we are the only sports fans around the globe that have this temerity to always blame our government and swallow hook, line and sinker any cinderalla-type story attached to the life of any athlete who performs internationally.
We can always celebrate the achievement of any Filipino athlete and win the admiration of people around the world without necessarily taking potshots at our government -- unless necessary.
CONTINGENT
Big or small contingent, we must view Martinez's presence in the Winter Olympics with much pride and dignity. Other countries also send small delegations even in major sporting competitions like the World Cup and Summer Olympic Games, and their governments get popular support from their citizens, not brickbats and tirades.
When we attack our government in media in relation to the Sochi Games, the whole world is watching and listening. When we embarrass our government, we embarrass our own athletes. And they get demoralized. We just hope Martinez, our lone hero in the Sochi Games, was unfazed by the noise of do-gooders back home.
Instead of focusing on the greatness of a Filipino athlete who made it to the Sochi Olympics despite an uphill climb in the pre-qualifying round, we gave highlight to the gripes of his mother, Teresa, who reportedly mortgaged their house just to ensure that her son makes it to the quadrennial games. She may be telling the truth in a hope to generate support from public.
STORY
After the story was out, netizens and fans in social media started to act as spokespersons for the Martinez family going ballistics and hitting the "corrupt" government from pillar to post. Shallow.
Were they blaming the government that Martinez failed to make the cut for the bronze medal or because Team Philippines sent only a lone delegate?
The accusations that the Philippines did not support Martinez were incredible if not irresponsible. In the first place, Martinez would not have made it to the qualifying round and eventually to the Olympics proper if his entry was not endorsed by the Philippines Olympics Committee (POC).
Before a Filipino athlete can get a financial support from the Philippine government, he must be a qualified member of the national sports association (NSA) in his event. Philippine Skating Union, where Martinez supposedly belongs, should be officially recognized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in order to avail financial support for the skaters' training and food allowances. One of the requirements is a registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and submission of set of officers and board of directors.
RECOGNIZED
If the Philippine Skating Union is a PSC-recognized NSA, it's most likely that Martinez availed financial assistance from the government for his training and exposure in international competitions prior to the Sochi Winter Olympics.
We're not speaking on behalf of the government here; the job of explaining this matter falls within the ambit of Philippine sports officials. They are duty-bound to clarify and explain this matter so that fire-brand and gullible fans, who took turns in lambasting the "corrupt" Philippine government only because Martinez's parents were "hard up", would be enlightened and educated.
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change." ROBERT ANTHONY
By Alex P. Vidal
There they go again. Because of too much excitement upon seeing a lone Pinoy entry carrying the national flag in the opening ceremonies and performing in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, some fans have embarked on usual buck-passing and blaming game, hitting the government for its "failure" to support the 17-year-old figure skater Michael Martinez.
To paraphrase JFK's famous quote, why can't we just think of what we can do for our country instead of always thinking of what our country can do for us?
It seems we are the only sports fans around the globe that have this temerity to always blame our government and swallow hook, line and sinker any cinderalla-type story attached to the life of any athlete who performs internationally.
We can always celebrate the achievement of any Filipino athlete and win the admiration of people around the world without necessarily taking potshots at our government -- unless necessary.
CONTINGENT
Big or small contingent, we must view Martinez's presence in the Winter Olympics with much pride and dignity. Other countries also send small delegations even in major sporting competitions like the World Cup and Summer Olympic Games, and their governments get popular support from their citizens, not brickbats and tirades.
When we attack our government in media in relation to the Sochi Games, the whole world is watching and listening. When we embarrass our government, we embarrass our own athletes. And they get demoralized. We just hope Martinez, our lone hero in the Sochi Games, was unfazed by the noise of do-gooders back home.
Instead of focusing on the greatness of a Filipino athlete who made it to the Sochi Olympics despite an uphill climb in the pre-qualifying round, we gave highlight to the gripes of his mother, Teresa, who reportedly mortgaged their house just to ensure that her son makes it to the quadrennial games. She may be telling the truth in a hope to generate support from public.
STORY
After the story was out, netizens and fans in social media started to act as spokespersons for the Martinez family going ballistics and hitting the "corrupt" government from pillar to post. Shallow.
Were they blaming the government that Martinez failed to make the cut for the bronze medal or because Team Philippines sent only a lone delegate?
The accusations that the Philippines did not support Martinez were incredible if not irresponsible. In the first place, Martinez would not have made it to the qualifying round and eventually to the Olympics proper if his entry was not endorsed by the Philippines Olympics Committee (POC).
Before a Filipino athlete can get a financial support from the Philippine government, he must be a qualified member of the national sports association (NSA) in his event. Philippine Skating Union, where Martinez supposedly belongs, should be officially recognized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in order to avail financial support for the skaters' training and food allowances. One of the requirements is a registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and submission of set of officers and board of directors.
RECOGNIZED
If the Philippine Skating Union is a PSC-recognized NSA, it's most likely that Martinez availed financial assistance from the government for his training and exposure in international competitions prior to the Sochi Winter Olympics.
We're not speaking on behalf of the government here; the job of explaining this matter falls within the ambit of Philippine sports officials. They are duty-bound to clarify and explain this matter so that fire-brand and gullible fans, who took turns in lambasting the "corrupt" Philippine government only because Martinez's parents were "hard up", would be enlightened and educated.
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