COLLEGE of Saint Benilde is currently building a Sports and Dorm Complex for their student-athletes and for the national players.
Robin Serrano, Vice President for Advancement of the school, revealed that they are building the sports facility that has multi-court, weights room, training room and a pool, which is set to open on December next year.
“We continue our all-out support to the sports development program of Benilde,” said Serrano during the school’s luncheon meeting for their student-athletes and Asian Games medalists in Hidilyn Diaz and Agatha Wong on Thursday at Benilde Hotel Maison De La Salle.
“We already did the groundbreaking last January and we’re hoping to finish the complex by December 2019, so maabutan pa ni Hidilyn. It’s a sports complex na may pool, a multi-court, weights room, training room to support our student-athletes,” he added.
The sports complex, located at the end of San Isidro St., Pasay City, is also open for national athletes.
“That’s in the program, that’s part of the proposal, to allow other athletes to use the faciilities and that’s the very reason why we’re inviting supporters and donors to finish the complex so we’ll be able to extend the use of the facilities to athletes,” Serrano said.
But the vice president for Advancement insisted that it’s exclusive for training, not for tournaments and leagues.
“May not be fitting if it’s for competition, it’s more of training facility,” he added.
Serrano and Leonard Babiera, Officer-in-charge director of Center for Sports Develepment, are proud of the two student-athletes of Saint Benilde.
“We’re proud of them not only because they are national athletes but because they are Benildeans,” Serrano said. “We call them student-athletes, they are students first before they are athletes. We encourage them to attend their academics and strike a balance between that and their trainings for their sports interest.”
Babiera agreed.
“We’re very grateful that Benilde produced the medalists of Asian Games,” he said. “With the success of these two athletes, we in the sports office, we always tell our student athletes to follow the footsteps of these two ladies maybe some day they can get medals also in international level.”
The two St. Benilde standouts Asian Games weightlifting Gold medalist Diaz and Wushu bronze medalist Wong are happy for what their school has been doing to support sports.
“Sana maipasok sa NCAA, Palarong Pambansa, UAAP kasi kung nakapasok ang weightlifting sa schools,” said Diaz, who is currently taking up a Business course in CSB. “Para may opportunity ang mga bata makapagaral kasi ‘yun ‘yung binigay ng weightlifiting sakin nakapagaral ako sa Zamboanga, nakapagtapos ako sa high school, ngayon sa college.”
Wong, Consular and Diplomatic Affairs alumna under the School of Diplomacy and Governance, and the national Wushu team are also hoping to build the future of their sport in the country.
“I had to balance academics and sports and it wasn’t an easy experience where it made tougher, made me stronger,” she said. “Right now, sobrang dami naming junior wushu athletes training to be future world champions, future SEA Games medalist, and I think in few years — siguro mga three years — we’ll see if Kung magsprout yung mga bagong athletes sa wushu.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph