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[av_heading heading=’ FEEL THE GAME BOBBY MOTUS Joyful redemption in Mary Joy Tabal’s victory’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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FORTY-TWO kilometers in two hours, 48 minutes and 26 seconds. After her silver medal finish in the 2015 Singapore SEA Games, Mary Joy Tabal submitted these numbers and won the country’s first gold medal in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEAG.
With a no-nonsense training on the high altitudes of Switzerland and Italy, MJT conquered the pavements of Putra Jaya and topped the rest of the lean field in the women’s marathon event. The time she submitted was a huge improvement from her second place finish of 3:04:39 in the last SEAG.
Like the road to the Rio Olympics, her 2017 SEAG campaign was potholed and muddled. In both Games, MJT was subjected to bias. The irony of it all was that the country’s governing body for track and field, PATAFA, was at the forefront of the maltreatment.
Let’s revisit the infamous “Ayaw na namin sa’yo.” Taking the cue from foreign-based athletes who also get allowances from PATAFA, MJT chose to train in Cebu with her own coach. She’s comfortable in this system and was fortunate to have generous sponsors who took care of her training expenses, nutrition, equipment, and overseas travels. All of these at no freaking cost to PATAFA.
In contrast, these overseas-based athletes won’t be spending their own resources to represent their mother’s native land and if they do touch down on our shores, they will be housed in hotels or condominiums, lavished in luxury and treated like pampered brats – something our local, organically grown and exploited athletes can only dream of.
Yet PATAFA’s high and mighty, plus their butt-licking and ball-kissing minions, took offense because they wanted her to train in imperial Manila with some designated coach who probably hasn’t produced a medalist since coaching was invented. They said MJT violated federation rules, acted like a diva, demanded this and that, and had no respect for authority. Therefore, they found reason to drop her from the 2017 SEAG roster.
Philippine basketball legend and PSC commissioner Mon Fernandez moved heaven and earth to have her reinstated to the national team. With the backing of Cebu’s political elite, PATAFA reluctantly gave in. And sure enough, Mary Joy Tabal did not disappoint.
MJT is the true definition of “Puso” that the Gilas faithful had been dutifully chanting. She had remained submissive and quiet despite the difficulties, and probably suffered and endured the uncomfortable situation in the stillness of the night. She was very determined, religiously committed to her training that her efforts and focus were much, much bigger than her petite 4-foot-11 frame. Her free clinics for underprivileged youngsters gained her thousands of supporters who bombarded the heavens with prayers for her success.
Her gold medal finish inspired our triathletes the following day when they ruled the multisport event and nailed 1-2 finishes in their respective divisions. Niko Huelgas and John Chicano won gold and silver, as well as Kim Mangrobang and Claire Adorno.
Two photographs appeared on the newspapers after MJT’s victory, both showing her being hugged. One had Mon Fernandez, the other with PATAFA’s demigod. Damn. The latter photo, for obvious reason, was cringe-worthy. The one with El Presidente was poignant, and just like his ways on the basketball court during his PBA days, the photographer did an elegant shot.
We would like hear from MJT’s bashers within PATAFA, including the coaches and athletes who badmouthed her. It won’t surprise me if they’ll be downplaying her achievement, stating the fact that her field only had a few participants and was almost scrapped from the event calendar. Yeah, right. And she soundly beat the 2015 SEAG women’s marathon champion from Thailand, more than nine minutes ahead of her close opponent. I do hope that our sprinters and hurdlers will make good for the sake of their coach who was one of MJT’s vocal critics and even aimed shots at the local sports media.
There is Joy in redemption for Mary’s victory, and we’re looking forward to MJT’s success in next year’s Asian Games scheduled in the middle of August in Jakarta, Indonesia. Unless, of course, some kind of unexplained virus colonizes the treacherously pitiable minds of … well, let’s just fill in the blanks.
Politics had infected Philippine sports to epidemic proportions. We hope, with the present setup and the new commissioners at the PSC, a lasting cure will be discovered. Until then, talents and medal hopefuls will continue to be wasted and overlooked just to accommodate the selfish and corrupt motives of the chosen few./PN
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