The Picky Playfield

WRITTEN BY: JOSE MIGUEL BALLECER

As the common saying goes, there’s more to it than meets the eye. And that same thing is reflected in the sports industry.

One of the things embedded deep into the country’s culture is sports. Before the country’s long history of colonization, Filipinos already played sports such as arnis, the country’s national sport. After being influenced by foreign cultures, Filipinos then began developing a liking for other sports, such as football, baseball, and volleyball, among other sports. In an article by Thomas Devlin published in 2021 about the most popular sports in each country, basketball emerged as the most preferred sport in the Philippines.

Along with modernization comes an increase in consumers’ dependence on media. As such, it is the media’s responsibility to keep above, and the media focusing their attention on two sports, this reflects the general public’s inclination towards specific sports only.

As stated by Blanco in Sports governance stakeholders, actors and policies in the Philippines: current issues, challenges and future directions about the state of the sports industry within the country, “In the Philippines, prominent private corporations serve as generous sports patrons of both grassroots and elite sports development.” everyone informed of the country’s current affairs in several industries. In Lou Antolihao’s book, “Playing with the big boys: Basketball, American imperialism, and subaltern discourse in the Philippines” published in 2015, basketball and volleyball emerged as the most preferred sports for both men and women to watch and play. From this, it is evident that the Filipino community prefers specific sports only, such as basketball, boxing, volleyball, and football, and in modern times, esports.

The economy is one of the main reasons that draw attention towards specific sports - the boost in the countries’ state. When looking at the country’s major league sponsors, specifically in PVL and PBA, it can be found that most of the country’s largest companies, such as San Miguel Corporation and PLDT, play in these conferences.

In contrast, other major leagues have no notable sponsors besides the Philippines Football League, sponsored by Qatar Airways. From here, it is evident that companies and viewership display a direct correlation. A higher rating, indicative of its performance in mainstream media, attracts bigger companies as it finds itself in a place with large audiences. More prominent companies open avenues for these associations, thus, drawing the focus of the public eye.

Additionally, two home-grown athletes, well-celebrated in their respective sports, face budget-related problems due to the need for more support.

With the few exceptions of athletes who rose to fame, such as EJ Obiena, who rose to stardom due to his exceptional skill in pole vaulting, tying with Tiago Braz for the 3rd (and 4th) best spot amongst other world vaulters as per World Athletics, most of the sports the country houses are left in the dark. This, then, begs the idea that viewers only focus on specific sports. Amidst the glory that the other athletes experience, locally and internationally, the general public barely bats an eye to them outside of their wins, outside of their glory. Seemingly, this hardly happens in popular sports, where fans grab every opportunity to support these players. At the very least, this is disappointing - disappointing to see how underappreciated some athletes are due to the preference of the public for specific sports.

The country’s preference towards specific sports is evident even in the collegiate-level sports associations, the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). These collegiate athletic institutions host 20 and 12 sports in which participating universities are allowed to compete, respectively. However, except for one or two sports, the remaining sports are only talked about once the participating university produces a champion, evidencing that although the industry does not discriminate against specific types of sports, the limelight is not shared by everyone.

Though the country is home to a large number of sports, it only has 13 top-flight leagues in six sports. These leagues include the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Premier Volleyball League (PVL), and the Philippines Football League, to name just a few. Additionally, the country only has four major media partners that provide sports coverage, namely Solar Sports, GMA, Tap Sports, and TV5, that cater to viewing some of these top-flight leagues. The main problem, however, is that the media focuses more on basketball and volleyball, leaving only a few sports available for viewing. With all the leagues mentioned

Bince Rafael Operiano, a 9-year-old who dominated in the 6th Eastern Asia Youth Chess Championship, and his father, Ben, admitted in an article written by Bernie Franco in 2022 about the chess prodigy that, prior to the competition, he [Ben] had difficulty securing sponsorships to fund them. Furthermore, Ben went on to discuss their experience sleeping in the airport, again due to their lack of budget.

Meanwhile, Hidilyn Diaz, the Philippines’ Golden Girl, admitted that although she is a respected and well-known athlete, she faces difficulties acquiring financial backing for her competitions outside the country.

The above-mentioned experiences of the country’s top athletes reflect the industry’s current state outside of the more preferred sports - neglected and suffering. These athletes lack the support given to other sports - the support provided by the government and the private sector. Though they were celebrated for their victories on the international stage, the public barely gave them any attention beforehand. If these trends were to continue, in a few years, these athletes could no longer compete on the world stage. Luckily, this was not the case; however, this is just the start for the country to finally see the potential the Philippines has outside its currently preferred sport.

Admittedly, forcing the public to like sports other than their preferences will be counter-productive; it would serve no harm to give them support, in any form, at the very least. The public needs to understand that the country performs reasonably well outside of popular sports. Aside from Diaz and Operiano, the country also houses Carlos Yulo (Gymnastics), EJ Obiena (Pole Vault), Janelle Freyna (Chess), and Eugene Torre (Chess), to name a few. Furthermore, the public also needs to understand the importance of finance in these matters and that, rather than judging these athletes, they should choose to aid them and, ultimately, help boost the sorry-state of our country’s sports industry.

Though it is evident that, slowly, the country is beginning to draw its eyes toward uncommon sports, it still has miles to go before it can share the limelight that popular sports are currently experiencing. It is also true that the public is now beginning to support athletes outside of popular sports also holds true in this time.

Truthfully speaking, we may already be missing out on the potential of the unseen Filipino athletes- the potential that these athletes will be those that will raise the country’s flag in the international scene, bagging medal after medal, hoisting the Philippine sports scene to a new glory- one that it has yet to attain. After all that’s been said, it’s worth remembering that nothing will ever be so wrong with supporting and recognizing everyone in the sports industry, especially those that do not get their fair share of the limelight.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR :

As one of this year’s Thomasian Engineer’s ardent readers and followers on Facebook for the past seven (7) months, something caught my attention. Just as I had envisioned my term on the UST-Engineering Student Council, which aimed to provide advocacy-driven service to the engineering community, the self-love and self-care series postings, such as the “7 days of self-love” and “2023 Reset Guide”, have had a significant impact on the community as we went through the bumpy road of virtual learning set-up. Getting back on track with these postings helps a lot of students experience peace and life once again as we are now transitioning back to face-to-face learning setup.

And as we quickly approach the end of the Academic Year 2022-2023, may we continue to help students how to cope with the stress that comes with it; whilst doing this, may we not forget to also take care of ourselves in the process.

Cordially yours,

Your appreciation to the publication’s postings and contents brings so much delight to us. We are beyond happy to know that our thoughts translated into words were able to paint a vivid picture of what self-care looks like to those students who might have forgotten minding themselves along the process of minding their future. Through your feedback, we are more than determined to post contents related to handling stress and taking care of oneself, so we may see the whole engineering community, not only being masters of tremendous mathematical computations but also of self-love.

As we continue to entertain Thomasian Engineering students with our timely and relevant reads, we will always make sure to keep in mind that the major purpose of our existence is to inform and shed light on matters that are often unseen, unheard, and neglected.

BY: WALDY HANS DE CASTRO