As the calendar turns to the new year, Philippine Sports braces for an eventful 2025 with all eyes set on the country’s hosting of the FIVB Men’s World Championship hosting in September.

Proving its capabilities in delivering world class hosting – evident from the successful staging of the 2024 Volleyball Nation’s League, the country is already expected to shift the preparations to higher gear even as the 32-country event is still nine months from now.

Of course, the focus is also on the formation of the Alas Pilipinas Men’s team which is aiming to prove its worth against the world powerhouses in volleyball.

Aside from the MWCH, another world championship is also set in the country with the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup set in November.

The 16-team tournament is set to become the FIFA’s fourth biggest women’s competition and the Filipinas, who turned heads in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, hope to continue to sustain the gains and further establish global prominence in the sport.

Expectations are also high for the hosting since it will be the first time that the Philippines is hosting a FIFA event and second women’s tournament in Southeast Asia since Thailand hosted the U19 World Championship in 2002.

At the continental level, there are high hopes for the Nationals when they see action in the 9th Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China in February.

The Philippine team has already made its moves as early as last year when it naturalized Russian figure skater Aleksandr Korovin to partner with Filipina Isabella Gamez to bolster the country’s medal chances.

The country is fielding 20 athletes in the Games, with a mission to start setting the stage for a first-ever Winter Olympics medal.

Curling will have the most number of PH athletes with 10, while the country will also send representatives in figure skating, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, short track speed skating and snowboarding.

Looking to sustain the momentum from the country’s successful Paris Olympics, the national athletes are also bracing for another campaign in regional meets with the 33rd edition of the Southeast Asian Games set in Thailand in December and the 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games set in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in November.

The Philippine Olympic Committee has vowed to not leave any stones unturned when it comes to the preparations especially that the country is looking to improve its fifth place finish in the 32nd edition in Cambodia where the country had a 58-gold, 86-silver and 116-bronze medal haul.

After the supposed AIMAG in Thailand was scrapped last year, the country is hoping to deliver big and improve its performance from eight years ago when the Nationals finished with two golds, 14 silvers and 14 bronzes for a 19th place finish in 2017.

It will also be a year-long basketball for Gilas Pilipinas as it guns for a sweep in the 2025 Asia Cup qualifier in the February window before beginning its campaign to reclaim its status as the best in the continent in the main tournament set in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in August.

The PH five will also open its bid for a spot in the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar when it sees action in the FIBA 2027 World Cup qualifier first window in November.

In boxing, Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao is set to be immortalized when he formally gets inducted to the Hall of Fame in June.