ANYONE who saw the movie “Cool Runnings” in the early 1990s must think it’s ridiculous for a Jamaican team to compete in the bobsled event of the Winter Olympics.After all, snow don’t fall in the Caribbean.
But if the Jamaicans can do it, why not the Filipinos, di ba?Since we already have ice skating and ice hockey as recognized sports for local athletes,
even if we will never have a natural training ground like in Western countries, why not add bobsled to that list as well.
That’s why I was not surprised anymore when an old friend Buddy Cunanan got in touch with me recently.
What he was pitching to me was his four-man national team of bobsleighers all taken from the Philippine Coast Guard and all under the Philippine National Bobsled Luge and Skeleton Association (PNBLSA) as the national sports association and recognized already by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
This is a first not only in the Philippines but in the Southeast Asian region, according to Buddy when we had a chance to chat at the Venice Piazza.
It took him a lot of efforts, and will need more efforts, to form and sustain this team in a sport that may be totally unknown to Filipino sports fans.
The group came into being late last year only but Buddy is already aiming high, and that is, to qualify in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
To do that, his athletes need to join qualifying events abroad. The fact is, his original two-man team of Sid Isidro and Jeffrey de la Cruz trained and joined local events already in Austria last year. They trained in Innsbruck and joined local races like the Europa Cup and the Tirol Cup among others.
But this year, encouraged by the enthusiastic support of the Filipino-Canadian community in Calgary, Canada, Buddy is moving to that place as the regular training ground for his athletes, now including two more additional members in Jerby Deriada and Joseph Acosta, with the four athletes forming two two-man teams that will be competing in this year’s Alberta Cup.
This is good training as they will be facing some of the best North American teams from the USA and Canada and even European teams, something necessary if they are to realize their dreams.
Explaining the reason why he went into this, he said originally he did it for fun and wanted to be the first to do it. Now it has become a big challenge for him and even getting big sponsors for a relatively unknown sport here, he is finding out, is not easy.
He is thankful that big conglomerate San Miguel Corporation has come in as a principal sponsor for the national team. He is also happy that Fil-Canadians in Alberta were even the ones who told him they are willing to raise funds for the team to train and compete in Canada.
And the sport itself is difficult and needs a combination of power, strength and guts. That is why he is not looking at expanding his base of athletes here, satisfied with the fact that the Philippine Coast Guard is his official partner and takes care of providing him with the athletes.
Too bad that our mini mental strengthening session in Mt. Banahaw did not push through before the athletes were to leave for Canada late January. What I did for the four athletes though will be a mini session at the Philippine Navy Golf Club where I shared with them my material on what it takes to be a champion athlete and the winning combination of skills and attitude.
That, I told Buddy, is my contribution to the team as I did it in gratis et amore.
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