Gearing up for the 2019 Ayala Philippine Athletics Championships

About a month to go before the much awaited 2019 Ayala Philippine Athletics Championships, we got to hear about the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association’s (PATAFA) plans for the sports event. Adrenaline and excitement have begun to build in both the hosts and the athletes alike as their preparations intensified as the date drew nearer and nearer.

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Once again hosted by PATAFA, the national body governing the sport, and backed by the Ayala Corporation, the event is set to take place in Iligan City, Isabela. This marks the fourth year the city will be hosting the competition. 

Festivities officially begin on March 2 when the 14th SEA Youth Athletics Championships will take place until March 3. Following this, the Philippine Athletics Championships will take place on March 6-8. 

When asked what to expect from the event proper, the organizers replied with a cryptic, “It will be the greatest show.” Hinting that they drew inspiration from the film The Greatest Showman, the event is expected to be one to grandest sports events happening in the country this year.

Steadfast supporters Soleus and L Timestudio will once again be the official timekeeper of the event. Soleus is known for creating timepieces that are specifically designed with a runner’s needs in mind. They will be providing their watches as prizes to the finalists. On top of that, cash prizes will be awarded to the winners, too. 

Aside from the prizes, the stakes are also high for our Philippine athletes in another respect. This event will serve as both a qualifying round as well as a conditioning benchmark challenge for the upcoming Asian Youth Athletics Championships, which will be held in Hong Kong just a few days after the Philippine Athletics Championships.  The athletes are preparing for a chance to represent the country and compete at the IAAF World Championships.
Dr. Philip Juico, president of PATAFA, shares their goal of surpassing the 11-gold medal record of the 1983 SEA games. The athletes’ training is currently in full swing and will continue up until before the IAFF World Championships, which will be held in Doha, Qatar in September. 

Every resource is needed in order to support the program. Juico recognizes that the key to their event’s success is to have good partners, such as the local government units of Ilagan and Pangasinan and the various sponsors in the private sector. The coming together of both the private and public sector to support the development of sports in the country and empowering Filipinos to engage in it is quite an admirable milestone. It’s a movement that needs to be continuously supported. With bodies such as PATAFA and the city of Ilagan really pushing for this development—not only in the national level but also internationally—it gives us hope about what this could mean not just for track and field athletes, but for the other sports fields as well.