Taekwondo targets 1st Pinoy gold

The 25th SEA Games fire off Wednesday with the Philippines favored to win its first gold medal in taekwondo.

After falling to 6th place in overall tally two years ago, the Filipinos are hoping to improve their standing despite the reduced number of sports and events.

From 41 sports in Thailand, this year's games feature 25 sports with the Filipinos seeing action in all but three disciplines.

They are expected to perform well in aquatics, athletics, taekwondo and boxing.

Gold medal forecasts vary with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) eyeing to surpass the 41-gold production two years ago in Thailand.

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the government sports agency, sees a modest haul of 20 gold medals.

Despite the much publicized feud between the POC and the PSC, Filipino athletes are largely unaffected and go about their business of preparing for the difficult tasks ahead.

The Philippines has already won a silver medal in water polo and has been assured of two bronzes in sepak takraw.

DepEd-PTA to search for the next ‘Taekwondo Manny Pacquiao’

By Joel Lacsamana TBB 6

How do you solve a problem like getting the first Philippine gold medal in the Olympics?
Nothing to it. Sports leaders, experts, pundits and even old time sports scribes way back in the 1930s — the acknowledged golden age of Philippine sports — have the inside track on how other countries do it and in the process, leave the politics-wracked Philippine sports scene eating their collective dust).

It’s not rocket science: it’s called grassroots sports development. No frills. No shortcuts. Just a lot of hard, nose-to-the-grindstone work. Forget glamor: one rarely lands in the sports pages or game-of-the-week highlights, say, the way PBA players with fat paychecks do.

And it’s simple ( probably a major reason why Philippine sports leaders don’t like it ) : you come up with a program to train trainors who will then teach kids - millions of them - how to learn, play, excel, but most important of all, enjoy sports all over the country.
With a wider pool from which to choose the best of the best athletes, you have a bigger chance to win sports laurels abroad. And those who don’t become sports champions - well, believe it or not, a country gets to be infinitely better with them. They get to build a nation of take-no-names go-getters, disciplined team players, and just plain overall good guys who like to compete - fair and square. Not like highly paid prima donnas who sulk when things don’t go their way, throw games, and/or move on to another team at the drop of the hat.

The Philippine Taekwondo Association, together with several key private sector partners, are poised to embark on such a grassroots program, to make Taekwondo a very accessible sport not only forstudents in the private schools, but in over 46,000 public schools (reaching over 15 million students) as well. This is part of the PTA’s gameplan to leave no stone unturned in its quest for glory in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, and Summer Olympic Games in 2016.
The grassroots program targets primary and secondary students by helping the DepEd select passionate personnel, and train them to teach special ‘Sports Taekwondo’ modules at the regional, division andschool levels. The objective is to build a nationwide cadre of dedicated, tournament-ready, management-oriented, and ethics-driven teachers who will sustain this grassroots initiative.

The PTA is currently working with the Department of Education to put the final touches to the plan to make Taekwondo an official part of the curriculum in all public schools. Taekwondo has been a major part of the annual, DepEd-managed Palarong Pambansa over the past decade. The next logical step would be to offer it through the Department’s Physical Education program. This supports the DepEd’s thrust of ‘Education for All’. With the problem of school drop out rates soaring, and high school National Achievement Tests (NAT) scores plummeting, free Taekwondo lessons at the grassroots level might just help kids stay in school - instead of the streets - and be motivated enough to hit the books a tad harder.

Hopefully, the program, when it kicks off in school-year 2009-2010, will help both the PTA and DepEd to discover, develop, and maximize potential Taekwondo talents from Aparri to Jolo. Bottomline: the next Manny Pacquiao, with the heart of a lion, will emerge from these far-flung country public schools, and crowded, urban centers, but this time, they will be practicing the ancient Korean art of Taekwondo.

And for the millions of kids with lion-sized dreams who don’t get to represent the country abroad, well, the Philippines will be the better for them.

Article from PTA Website

2009 Marikina Open Taekwondo Championships

After a few months of hiatus from actual competitions brought about by various activities at San Sebastian College - Recoletos (SSC-R) immediately after the 2008 National Age-Group Championships held last October 11-12, 2008 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium (NAS), six (6) Grade School jins from Team Recoletos plunged back into action last February 28, 2009 at the 2009 Marikina Open Taekwondo Championships held at the Roosevelt College - Marikina (RCM).

The six (6) select members of Team Recoletos who fought under the tutelage of Coach Jose Regie Madarang of Golden Eagle Taekwondo Chapter were high red-belter Gershom Norman Montes, low red-belters siblings Ma. Beatriz Francesca Paguia and Marion Emmanuel Paguia, high blue-belters Adryl Justine Ordonio, Ivan Andrei Erestain and Randell Jan Evaristo. All six (6) jins were up to the task as they all fought with big heart and determination. Five (5) of the six (6) jins went home with medals, the first time in the illustrious history of Team Recoletos where almost all its participants in a particular tournament of this magnitude brought home a medal.

Ordonio and Evaristo brought home the gold medals in their respective divisions while Emman Paguia won the silver medal in his division and Bianca Paguia and Erestain bagged bronze medals in their divisions. Montes lost to more experienced brown-belter in his first match.

Ordonio beat three (3) opponents on the way to his gold-medal winning performance while Evaristo drew a walkover in his first match then handily beat his opponent in the championship round. Emman Paguia also won his first match by default and gallantly fought his quicker opponent in the finals where he lost by a close 6 – 4 score after identical scores of 3 – 2 in the two (2) round finals match.

Bianca Paguia was on her way to a close victory in her semifinal match but eventually retired from the said match as she injured her right knee during a fierce exchange of heated kicks in the second round. Erestain, on the other hand, won his first match via sudden death after it ended in a 2-all standoff but lost out to fellow Golden Eagle member Sealtiel Madarang in the semifinals who eventually won the gold medal in their division. In fact, all the Madarang siblings won medals in the said tournament with Uriel and Ar-j also winning gold medals in their divisions and Paulina bagging the silver medal after suffering asthma in the finals that forced her to forfeit her match.

Truly a remarkable feat for Team Recoletos (and Team Golden Eagle, for that matter) as they continue to reap the dividends of a rigorous training they are undergoing at Marikina where they get to meet junior taekwondo players from other schools like De La Salle Greenhills, Miriam College and Ateneo de Manila University.

BRAVO BASTE!!!