Servants, not kings

Gina Ardina, mother of golfer Dottie Ardina, couldn’t hide her frustration when she faced National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) secretary general Bones Floro for the first time since the Paris Olympics.

Ardina tore Floro apart, accusing him of mistreating her daughter when she represented the country in the Summer Games.

But Ardina’s grievances were just the tip of Floro’s iceberg of ineptness as a sports official.

What was worse was that Floro also mishandled Dottie’s competition uniform, sparking outrage in the local sports community that prompted Senate Committee on Sports chairman Christopher “Bong” Go to call for an inquiry.

With French customs holding up the shipment that contained the competition uniforms of the Filipino golfers, Floro devised what he branded as “Plan B” to make sure that Dottie and Bianca Pagdanganan would still have proper outfits.

His “Plan B” to procure locally made apparel fizzled out as it was too tight for Dottie. Yes, she wore it on the first day, but she couldn’t swing properly, prompting her to buy her own outfit for the succeeding rounds.

Since Dottie’s locally bought competition apparel didn’t comply with the uniform requirement of the International Olympic Committee, she had to attach a Philippine flag to the chest while putting up a prayer that it would not fly away in the middle of the round.

In short, Dottie looked like a pauper in an elite event in the biggest and most prestigious sports conclave in the world. She became the object of ridicule among the international golfers as the video of her attaching the Philippine flag to her locally bought apparel and the photo of the national colors dangling from her shirt drew chuckles around the world.

Dottie wasn’t mad — she was furious — over this massive international embarrassment on a stage as big as the Olympics. It was a big blackeye on Philippine sports as it showed that Floro wasn’t just incompetent, he also didn’t have a heart for his athletes.

That’s the problem with some of our sports officials.

Due to their clout, political connections, social status and wealth, some of them act as if they are God’s greatest gift to Philippine sports. They treat their federations as their kingdoms and the athletes as their servants.

Since most of the members of the national pool come from poverty, they are compelled to toe the line and follow the whims of their sports leaders to maintain their status in the national team and their salaries from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

If a sports official can treat an elite golfer like Dottie this way in a sport as prominent as golf, what more the athletes in the lesser known sports?

The “Tapal-gate” issue should serve as a wakeup call for the PSC and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). More than the glory of winning Olympic gold, the PSC and POC should check the ranks by reaching out to the athletes to see if their federation officials are treating them well.

Yes, being a federation leader is purely voluntary work. Sports officials like Floro are not on the payroll of the PSC or POC.

But this doesn’t mean they should not do their jobs. If they can’t handle things they volunteered for, they may as well relinquish their positions and let somebody else do it.

The power should belong to the athletes — not to the officials. Sports executives like Floro wouldn’t have been in Paris if athletes like Dottie didn’t work hard to qualify for the Summer Olympics.

There’s no denying that we are now in the Golden Age of Philippine sports. But as we savor this success, we should also change our mindset and rally behind those who made it possible, those who brought pride and glory to the country through their hard work, dedication and courage to win — the Filipino athletes.

With that, athletes need sports officials who will act like servants, not kings, especially when the pride and glory of the country are on the line.