Milo eyes bigger 2025
THE year has not yet ended but for the people behind MILO Sports led by Veron Cruz and Carlo Sampan, they are already looking to a bigger and expanded 2025.
I know this because I was at the recent recognition event of MILO for its local partners in sports, dubbed as A Gathering of Champions, and there were a lot of them, including the Philippine Sports Commission( PSC) which saw Chairman Richard Bachmann and Commissioners Bong Coo and Fritz Gaston among the special guests.
It turned out too that Comm. Bong was a bowling coach of Veron during her student days as she related when she spoke on the various programs of MILO, milestones reached this year, and directions for the future.
MILO supports Comm. Bong’s Women in Sports initiatives while on our part, MILO has also supported our Indigeneous Peoples ( IP) Games, a project aimed at promoting traditional games by holding regional events in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
In fact I will be in GenSan with Fritz by end of October for the final leg this year, Fritz also presented a well applauded AVP showing the past IP Games.
Carlo, who heads the entire MILO Sports program, also extended an invitation to indigeneous people in the GenSan area to join the MILO Marathon event in that city, even giving free slots to to those who want to join.
As I said, aside from the PSC, MILO thanked a lot of people who worked with them this year, actually the 60th year of MILO’s operations here, the list included Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz for her weightlifting gym in Zamboanga, National Academy of Sports Executive Directir Joy Reyes, sepak takraw’s Karen Tanchanco- Caballero for her growing a grassroots program nationwide with a base of 10,000 athletes, and my good friend Ral Rosario, i think for his open water safe swim initiatives To add to that long list, MILO also cited the Sports Nutrition Association of the Philippines( SNAP) for its conduct of a recent summit, the Philippine Amateur Athletic Associationnof the Philippines( PATAFA), the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP), Mila Emperado of the Metropolitan Chess Club which runs the MILO Checkmate, the Philippine Pole Vault Club, and the Philippine Volcanoes,
The Basketball Efficiency Scientific Center( BEST) of my goòd late friends , Nic and Marlyn Jorge was also recognized, truth is , it was in basketball that MILO started with its sports clinic programs, now expanded to a lot more sports, Fritz was at one timeca BEST basketball instructors. Swimming I think was the second one to basketball in MILO’s sports history.
Multi titled MILO Marathon and SEA Games champion Mary Joy Tabal even had her own presentation in behalf of the Mabdau grassroots sports program in Cebu.
For 2025, MILO is talking of more, more sports clinics nationwide, more marathon races in different regions, more safe swim programs, and definitely more kids to get into sports.
I told Carlo that for the IP Games next year, PSC is looking at possible 4 legs plus educational seminars on different sports sciences for both regular and para national athletes.
MILO has indeed been good for Philippine sports and I am looking forward to being involved or to cover more of their events next year.
Through this piece, I would like to extend my condolences to the family of my first cousin Jimmy Suarez on the untimely demise of my nephew Jei, who at the age of 37 lost out in his battle with the Big C , he had a remission and we thought he had it won, unfortunately, it re emerged , this time, fatal.
We fathers are not supposed to bury our sons, they should be the ones burying us, in the case of Jei, who was a very good basketball player, his early death was a painful one but now, we can only pray for the eternal repose of his soul.Amen.
