The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) is wasting no time in preparing the Filipino athletes that will compete in the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games even as host country Vietnam could not give a definite timetable for the holding of the biennial event.
PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez, who is also the Chef de Mission of the national team in the 31st SEA Games, said there are requests already from at least five national sports associations (NSA) for resumption of ‘bubble’ training sessions this year.
“A very few requests, three to five (NSAs),” said Fernandez in an exchange of messages Sunday, Sept. 5 with Manila Bulletin. “No schedule pa (Vietnam but) may SEA Games budget naman.”
Fernandez, a four-time PBA MVP, said that the NSAs could actually train their national team athletes for the SEA Games since the government sports agency has already approved the allotted budget.
“Tuloy ang training para magamit yung budget,” he said.
One of the NSAs that already had a schedule for the ‘bubble’ training is the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA) as the national team fencers will resume practice in mid-September until early December in Ormoc City.
The bubble training of athletes was already being coordinated and finalized between PSC and the NSAs sometime in July, but came the cancelation of the event this year.
Vietnam was supposed to stage the SEA Games on Nov. 21 to Dec. 2 but because of the COVID-19 situation, the host’s organizing committee has decided to reschedule the meet next year.
However, the host country has yet to announce the exact date of the SEA Games, although there is speculation it’s either in March or April to avoid conflict and give athletes enough time to rest and prepare for the 2022 Asian Games in September in Hangzhou, China.
The national team hopes to duplicate its overall championship campaign when the Philippines staged the SEA Games back in 2019 with 149 gold medals, as well as 117 silvers and 121 bronze medals.
The country is on a high following the performance of Team Philippines in the last Tokyo Olympics.
Veteran weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the Olympics as she ruled the 55-kilogram category in the women’s division. The team also bagged two silvers medals courtesy of boxers Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, while pro boxer Eumir Marcial earned a bronze medal.