PSC eyeing AFP for new talent

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) wants to use the PSC-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Philippine Uniformed Services as One (PSC-PUSO) Games as a talent identification platform to discover talents from the country’s uniformed services.

Sports commissioner Matthew “Fritz” Gaston said the competition offers an opportunity to identify promising athletes among regular personnel while allowing national team members in the uniformed services to represent their respective units.

The 20-sport program includes arnis, basketball, taekwondo, shooting, obstacle course, golf, swimming, boxing, volleyball, sepak takraw, judo, athletics, lawn tennis, badminton, chess, table tennis, karate, softball, football and tug-of-war.

“These are our regular personnel, and we can see who stands out. You can identify the runners and other athletes who have potential. When they compete, you see what they can do,” Gaston said.

“This event shows that we produce not only national athletes but also Olympians who come from the uniformed services.”

Gaston said the PSC is working with national sports associations on the technical and management aspects of the competitions.

“The chairman (PSC chairman Patrick ‘Pato” Gregorio) wants this to become a major event. Our partnership with the uniformed services has received a lot of support because he wants it to grow,” Gaston said.

“The message behind strengthening this partnership is that sports development is a shared national responsibility. The military’s responsibility is not only to protect the country; its members can also excel in sports.”