OBLIQUE OBSERVATIONS
By Atty. Gilberto Lauengco, J.D.
Recently, I joined millions of Filipinos who stayed glued to their tv or devices watching the new darling of Philippine sports Alex Eala win her historic WTA title in Mubadala DC. Like many Filipinos, I was so happy to see Alex dismantle not only top tier tennis talents but also a persistent myth that Filipinos can only excel in certain sports. It also made me think about several things related to her historic win.
First, tennis is a notoriously expensive sport that requires structural and long-term financial backing that many possibly talented players from our country cannot access. Her success is a confluence of many factors that are difficult to duplicate. Eala has opened our eyes to what is possible. In a sport that does not require height or bulk, the Filipinos can and should excel. What is needed, though, is to democratize the sport.
We need to create public courts, accessible equipment and regional training pools so that the next prodigy will not need to rely on the same confluence of events and factors. If possible, we can copy the system of foreign academies and apply it to a training regimen.
Second, there were many pundits who stressed on Eala’s Pinoy resilience and grit amidst all the hardship and challenges she faced. Though these traits did indeed help her, perhaps we should begin celebrating her other unique traits. Eala demonstrated a high degree of clinical preparation, tactical adaptation and mental sports psychology. We cannot just rely on the Filipino knack for emotional survival. We need to train our kids that preparation, studying, tactics, psychology and emotional fortitude are all needed factors for success. We need to stop emphasizing resilience as our only access to success. For too long, former colonial masters have used this so-called resilience to control and enslave us. We need to start getting rid of this mentality and start drilling long term planning and hard work into the next generation.
Third, it is a painful reality that our sports culture is still dominated by men’s basketball. Yet our biggest victories come for other sports such as weight lifting, gymnastics, women’s football and now Tennis. Beloved sports such as boxing and billiards indeed have their share of success. Unfortunately, despite our recent success sometimes in basketball, maybe it is time to focus on other sports and build it on a grassroot level.
Fourth, the Philippine diaspora has given us an advantage in sport spectators. Everywhere Eala goes, she will have thousands of supporters who are willing to go to the arenas to support her as loud as they can. Every area can be a homecourt. Online I have seen an army of supporters support her and fight bashers and critics alike. Some people seem bothered by this advantage. I disagree. It is time for the world to adjust to us and not the other way around.
Eala wore a viral statement shirt. “Kapag lumago hindi na hihinto”. Once it grows, it cannot be stopped. Eala has opened the door and created a momentum. Our officials and all of us must now cultivate the growth or else we will risk throttling the momentum. We must now get rid of the “happy to be there” mentality and change it to “we can win this”.
