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Sport in the Philippines

Sport has been a part of Philippine culture since the late 19th century. Early observers noted however, Filipinos generally take a passive approach to competition. Three and a half centuries of oppressive colonial rule, yearly natural disasters plus prevailing socio-economic issues are blamed for the sorry state of Philippine sport.

Politics, red tape, and crab mentality between key sporting bodies, the government and the national sporting associations impedes the smoother development of Filipino world-class athletes. Lack of leadership and vision compounds the critical lack of innovative training methods, state-of-the art facilities and modern equipment needed to develop Filipino athlete potential to reach and maintain competitive Olympic and Paralympic levels.

These have hindered the growth of elite level and regular sport, despite accolades in the early second half of the 20th century. The Philippines back then, produced world-class talent in baseball, boxing, football/soccer, basketball, track and field, and swimming.

There currently exists an disparity in Philippine sports. On one end is the majority of the populace whose sport exposure is limited to what can be afforded on limited income and time. On the other end, a minority whose sport exposure parallels that of the developed world, where active involvement is conducted using expensive sport equipment and played within an equally limited society of peers. Such a situation subsequently limits growing new talent from the mass base.

Some sports have therefore flourished more than others, but by no means indicate the sports Filipinos enjoy today. One only need visit the country, immerse and involve oneself in sport opportunities across the islands.

With the Filipino love for radio/TV entertainment and gadgets, the speed of technological growth, the internet, affordable personal tech video services on equally affordable cellphones have exposed the nation to world culture.

Income from the Filipino overseas workforce feeds the imaginations of family (still living in the country), opening minds to tantalizing glimpses of the world's leisure sports, fads, trends aside from Hollywood films. Filipinos have started tuning into the world, getting more involved in sport. Some are in part, striving to mimic their sport heroes.

Pick a Sport

There are five major team sports in the Philippines that are quite popular to differing degrees. Baseball, softball, football/soccer, basketball, and volleyball are generally among those sports Filipinos have embraced. Boxing, golf, tennis, badminton, biking/cycling are among the more prevalent individual pursuits. Despite being a tropical country, ice skating is a rather prominent sport in the Philippines, which many do for fun, and yet others do seriously--the Philippines, in fact, has topped many Asian ice skating competitions over skaters from Hong Kong and the United States. Running, weight/power-lifting, aerobics, and the martial arts of karate-do and tae-kwon-do are likewise popular endeavors especially among the health conscious. On the water front, swimming continues to be popular, while scuba/underwater diving, kayaking, sailing, and body/wind surfing have also found their niche. On another front cockfighting, horse racing, auto/cart/drag/motor racing, and jai-alai also have a big following.

A good trend to watch is the growth of outdoor, extreme, and endurance sports which is gradually gaining acceptance across the islands especially among the younger generation and the environmentally conscious nature-lovers. Among these are in-line/roller skating, in-line hockey, kite/wake boarding, kite/ski surfing, rock-climbing/scrambling, mountaineering,and frisbee.

Sport for the Disabled

Access to sport for the disabled is hampered by poverty, ignorance, lack of awareness, lack of accessible sport facilities and nonexistent or incomplete implementation of the rights of the disabled in the Philippines.

The disabled Filipinos who do take up sport discover this is a way to regain self confidence, hope and maintain fitness. Most civilian disabled athletes are those who have had access to supportive personnel or have encountered PHILSPADA athletes. The Philippine Sports Association of Differently Abled is the umbrella organization for Philippine disabled sport likewise official National Paralympic Committee of the Philippines, affiliated with the International Paralympic Committee. PHILSPADA works with the IBSA, the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, equivalent organizations and national sport associations to train and send qualified disabled Filipino athletes to the ASEAN ParaGames, the Paralympics and all accredited local and international disabled sport events.

Although the Philippine disabled sport contingents are so much smaller and less funded by the government, Filipino disabled athletes have been bringing in more medals than their able-bodied counterparts in equivalent international games. This is not because sports for the disabled is made easier but because of the will and ability of the athlete to excel. Recently PSC announced that medal winning disabled athletes will also receive exactly the same cash award sport incentives as the able-bodied SEAGAMES medal winners, etc have been receiving, in line with Republic Act 7277 – the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons.

In the recent January 2008 4th ASEAN Paragames in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, the Philippines fielded athletes with cerebral palsy to compete in boccia for the first time. Likewise the Philippine Disabled Shooting Team (with Philippine National Shooting Association support) competed in the ParaGames in the Air Rifle and Air Pistol events.

This year, Adeline Dumapong, wheelchair user with polio, bemedalled athlete and Paralympian powerlifter (Bronze, 2000 Sydney Paralympics) plus the 2-person Philippine Disabled Sailing Team, Team Sailability Philippines (with the Philippine Sailing Association support), have qualified for and will compete in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

Boxing and Martial Arts

Outdoor

Racquet sports

Sports where players use racquets to hit a ball or other object.

Skating

Sports in which skates or skateboards are used.

Target sports

Sports where the main objective is to hit a certain target.

Archery
Billiard Sports

Bowling
Darts
Golf
Target Shooting

Rifle Events

10 m Air Rifle - only Standing. This is an Olympic event for both men and women.
50 m Rifle (formerly Free Rifle, Standard Rifle and Sport Rifle) - in turn divided into Three positions and Prone. Both events are Olympic for men; the Three positions event is Olympic for women.

Pistol Events

10 m Air Pistol. This is an Olympic event for both men and women.
25 m Rapid Fire Pistol. This is an Olympic men-only event.
25 m Pistol (formerly Sport Pistol). This is an Olympic women-only event.
25 m Center-Fire Pistol. This is a men-only event.
25 m Standard Pistol. This is a men-only event.
50 m Pistol (formerly Free Pistol). This is an Olympic men-only event.

Shotgun events

Trap. This is an Olympic event for both men and women.
Double Trap. This is an Olympic event for men (and a former Olympic event for women).
Skeet. This is an Olympic event for both men and women.