Historic debut: Budding national athletes, overseas Filipino students join Palaro

CEBU CITY, Philippines – For the first time in Palarong Pambansa history, the National Academy of Sports (NAS) and the Philippine Schools Overseas (PSO) join the 17-region roster of student-athletes competing in the biggest grassroots tournament in the country.

Formed in 2020 through Republic Act No. 11470, the NAS was envisioned to be the training ground of the Philippines’ next world-class athletes, located in New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

Meanwhile, the PSO are duly registered educational institutions outside the country that are implementing the basic education curriculum of the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd). There are 32 PSOs as of June 2024, located in 11 countries: Bahrain, Cambodia, East Timor, Greece, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The two new delegations threw their hat in the Palaro ring at the 2024 edition in Cebu City. 

NAS is fielding 42 players vying for medals in secondary swimming, athletics, badminton, gymnastics, taekwondo, and table tennis. The PSO delegation has 18 players from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, competing in secondary basketball, badminton, and taekwondo.

Journey to Palaro

As they were established at the height of the pandemic, NAS had to resort to virtual classes for their first academic school year in September 2021. Construction of their campus began in October in the same year, while physical classes started in January 2024.

NAS provides education, training, and lodging for their student-athletes. So, when the time for Palaro qualifications came, students were torn between representing their home regions – which they did in 2023 – and focusing on their training on campus. 

“Our goal is not only for the Palaro – it’s all for international competition,” said Myrna Domingo, senior technical assistant of the NAS Office of the Executive Director, pointing out that resources that would be allocated for airfare and other needs could’ve been used for student-athlete training.

As such, after conducting a consultation, NAS officials decided to request for the DepEd to designate the academy as a separate Palaro delegation. 

In the case of PSO, the group had long been qualified to compete in the Palaro, albeit only in individual events. Then, school principals of some PSOs expressed interest in joining the team events, too. For one, their students have been playing basketball under different clubs and organizations. So, why not bring those skills to their home country, too?

“Our school principals also saw the interest of the students in sports. That became the motivation of our officials to apply to join,” said PSO assistant coach Edison Pioquinto from the Philippine International School-Qatar. 

“We hoped at least we could join as a guest delegation so that the kids can experience playing in the Palaro somehow,” added head coach Mike Comia from the Philippine School Doha.

Growing pains

The DepEd confirmed the official designation of NAS as a separate delegation in February 2024. They then approved PSO’s entry to team sports in June the same year.  

The less amount of time to train – compared to the regional delegations who had been training for several months from city to regional meets – had proven to be a challenge for the two newbie groups.

The NAS took it in stride. Right after getting the confirmation about their Palaro debut, they conducted a qualification tournament to make sure their numbers meet the qualifying standards for the national meet. They also proceeded to form procurement processes for supplies they needed.

On the other hand, they had to deal with the fact that they only have students from grades 7 to 9 so far.

“I have grade 7 athletes that will be competing with those in grade 12. The age gap is something,” shared coach Karen Jaleco, who heads the table tennis program at NAS. 

The student-athletes also had to deal with separation anxiety, Jaleco added.

“The students also miss their parents because we’re isolated in an area away from the city,” she said. “But after a month, they were able to get used to the situation and focus on their studies and training.”

The PSO delegation was not immune either to problems with distance.

They were able to coordinate with schools in other countries only via messaging apps and conference calls. When they met one another as a delegation for the first time, it was just when they landed in the Philippines for the Palaro. As no other court was available for them to train in, all they were able to do right before the games began were warm-ups.

Comia and Pioquinto are also a two-man team handling concerns that should’ve been dealt with via committees: food, transportation, talking to the student-athletes’ parents, paperwork, and the like. And they had to do all of it thousands of kilometers away from the Philippines.

Turning emotional, Comia expressed how difficult it was to be away from his family while dealing with challenges on sending his students to Palaro.

“It was so hard. I was alone; it was my first time. But we did it for our students, for PSO.”

“It’s challenging, but at the same time, it’s an experience for us as a team. Maybe that’s the positive side of it for us – getting in Palarong Pambansa is a huge honor. So, we need to cherish this moment while we’re at it,” Pioquinto shared. 

Comia recalled how overwhelming it felt to walk on the grand Palaro stage during the opening parade. “My families in Qatar and in the Philippines got to see it,” he said.

“It’s heartwarming being here in Palarong Pambansa. It’s just different.”

What sets NAS and PSO apart from the regional delegations, despite these setbacks?

For NAS’ Jaleco, it’s their access to health services and world-class facilities, as well as government support. They also make sure to remind students to be all-rounders, competitive not just in sports but also academics.

“It’s too early to say, but in one step at a time, they’re getting to that stage of being the cream of the crop, like how we know students from science high schools,” she declared.

For PSO’s Comia and Pioquinto, it’s having competed with – and won against – teams of other nationalities.

“They were able to compete with the national team of Qatar,” Pioquinto shared, adding that the country’s diverse basketball community has allowed them to play against American, Sudanese, and Lebanese teams, among others.

What’s next 

Now that NAS and PSO have made their Palaro debut, do they have any comeback plans?

During a press conference, Palarong Pambansa secretary general Francis Cesar Bringas said both groups are welcome to join as delegations again in 2025. 

According to Domingo, they still have to evaluate whether they’ll return as a delegation next year or revert back to their 2023 setup of letting their students represent their home regions, as rules for international competitions don’t apply to rules for Palaro.

As for PSO, they would do it again, but with longer and better preparation.

“If we had a longer time to prepare, perhaps a year, it would’ve been better. We would’ve been able to show what we’re capable of,” Comia lamented. “We’re PSO, students from overseas. We want to show that the skills we have in Qatar, we can bring here.”

“We’re here, we’re part of Philippine schools even when we’re based overseas. We can also show the same passion in different sports,” Pioquinto vouched. – Rappler.com

All quotes were translated in English for brevity.