THANKS to Pinoy artistic gymnast Carlos Yulo, the country became euphoric about winning not one but two gold medals on the world stage, at the 2024 Paris Olympics! It certainly beats all celebrations of past individual triumphs. Winning beauty titles may no longer be the ultimate dream of a young girl, nor becoming a part of a national basketball team by young boys.

Finally, our country has a model, an icon of an accomplished individual, who willingly accepted challenges for years to realize a dream.

But beyond celebrating Yulo as a modern-day hero, his triumph must serve as a wake-up call to our families, and national and local governments. Indeed, his accomplishment exemplifies how the full individual potential of a young Filipino who works hard and strives to be the best in anything he/she aspires can be realized – with the support of family and government.

Therein lies the task of our families and government – to motivate and inspire the young, whether in or out of school, to pursue a dream, to develop mental and physical skills, and to teach that there are no limits to what an individual can achieve.  That his/her person can and should be different from his/her family’s current economic standing.

The national government must help initially by defining a new program of instruction and training for a wide array of sports disciplines and activities for individual development. For instance, a sport where height is a 75% factor should be out. So, count out basketball. (Local talents will always be out shadowed by tall imports).

Then, our local government can begin to promote sports scholarships/sponsorships in all schools, colleges, and universities for a field of 15 sports disciplines. A program backed by the provision of modern equipment with the help of local and/or local commercial sponsors should motivate our young athletes for decades.

While waiting for the national government to design a program, the Pangasinan Provincial government which has already introduced regular competitions in cycling, chess, and athletics should consider calibrating its approach this early.

So, we salute the Dagupan City government, particularly under Mayor Belen Fernandez, which has shown the way to a focused sports development for the city’s young over the years. It persisted notwithstanding the endless obstruction posed by her political detractors.

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