Athletes have to accept the reality that spending for a sports event does not really inure to the benefit of majority of the populace. It is more often geared to the benefit of the athlete.
It is why I opine that what participating athlete could offer to return the favor is to give a good show in order for the public to patronize their event.
Coaches and their athletes should understand that without this entertainment value, the public and sponsors will always be shortchanged.
Sports “heroes” and “moments” needed to eliminate the CARAA meet’s lack crowd-drawing power
Lack of crowd-drawing power is the root cause of Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (CARAA) meet’s economic failure of a sports event.
Sports “heroes” and “moments” is a very good cure of this problem. They give the audience a reason to be excited to follow the games.
They are probably what the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (CARAA) needs to remedy the event’s lack crowd-drawing power
Issues preventing excellence on the athletes’ side
1. “Entako et man obla” (Let’s get to work instead)
Cordillerans are mostly land tillers by trade and their mindset on producing income is tending to their farm. The elderly ones, who generally became materially successful without getting high education, lean towards valuing their land more than anything else.
This attitude is often carried over to their children, thus, the general disinterest in excelling in any other endeavor other than tending the farm.
As such, the physically fit young athletes who are conected with the farming industry are often satisfied with just playing the sport they are involved in for fun and don’t generally focus on taking their talents to another level.
The idea of sports being a potential long-term livelihood source is a very long shot for Cordillerans.
2. Athletes unknowingly or unintentionally ignore the fans
When an athlete fails to be accountable of themselves in putting up a good performance, it often results to a lousy sporting match and, subsequently, mediocre show for the audience.
And when that happens, the games become unwatchable and turn the audience off.
This is why it is my humble position that the main value of sports lies in its being watchable and its strength in generating fan following.
I get it that to the participant, there are various reasons why get into sports. Health, career, passion, enjoyment, relaxation, are just a few of the many more reasons.
But to the fan and the promoter, only one thing stands out: Patronage!
Fans wouldn’t bother to consume resources to patronize a sports event if there is nothing to worthy to see.
Marcelito Pomoy’s case
I hate to use another field to drive a sports point but Cordillera young athletes should take a hard look at the case of Marcelito Pomoy. He is the perfect example of what happens financially when one seriously takes his talents to another level.
For those who don’t know him yet, Pomoy is a Pinoy singing sensation who reached the finals of, and is currently being tagged as a heavy favorite to win, the 2020 America’s Got Talent, Champions edition.
Pomoy’s unusual but amazing talent was not something new to many but his talent in its raw form never got him close to reaching its full economic potential.
But as he repeatedly exhibited it through great performances in platforms that displays it to larger audience groups and attracted their interest, it suddenly changes the dynamic economically.
Just look at the timeline of how he showed a talent that many of us Pinoys find to be somewhat normal because we have seen it so many times performed in the Philippines but could get quite a haul economically in other parts of the world.
He first showed us what he can do when he won Pilipinas Got Talent almost a decade back in 2011. This afforded him an overnight change in his life economically, at least in Philippine terms.
Great ending right? Nope, see what happens when other avenues presented themselves and he makes his performances several notches up.
Another leap came along sometime in 2017 when Wish 105.7 Wish uploaded a video of him rendering his dual-voice version of “The Prayer”. His performance was so point on that it made him a YouTube star when this piece generated millions of reactions and shares around the world.
It also caught the eye of Ellen DeGeneres which prompted her to give him and appearance in her show shortly after that allowed the American market to get a closer look at him.
But what finally got the attention of the international music community, including producers, is his taking his talents to an extended level and allowing himself to be exposed to a bigger audience that this talent show in the US provides.
As judge Simon Cowell insinuated, Pomoy will have a massive career in front of him regardless of what will be the result of his stint in the contest.
I’m sure even the young athletes aspiring to compete in the CARAA have an idea what kind of monetary reward Pomoy and his family will have.
All possible because Pomoy consistently give a performance that wowed the audience each time he took center stage.
Manny Pacquiao’s case
Kinda same route Manny Pacquiao had: from one-fisted bantamweight knockout artist in the defunct Blow by Blow boxing show to a worthy contender of the Best pound for pound Boxers of All-time just because he generally entertained the audience each time to goes into the ring.
I’m quite comfortable to say that both Pomoy and Pacquiao never imagined they are going to be in a spot where they are now when they performed early in their careers.
Their status now is the hidden reward a performer could get when he puts the audience first above everything else.
Nothing to loss in putting up a good show
Generally, not all aspiring athletes with potentials reached superstar status. If fact, it is safe to say there are more casualties than successful ones in this regard.
But Manny Pacquiao, Team Lakay, Arnel Pineda, Mareclito Pomoy, and their kind prove that huge material rewards could be waiting for worthy talents who just did not have the opportunity earlier to display their wares to a bigger group of audience.
It is why when opportunities like participation in the CARAA is presented to an aspiring athlete; they have to do their thing as if they are pushing their athletic career to advance to another level.
They have simply nothing to lose if they offer and provide the public entertainment by putting up a good show. This regional meet could even be their stepping stone for something bigger they could have ever imagine.
By ARMANDO M. BOLISLIS