Montalbo: Athletes in Manila are prone to challenges

By Jerome S. Galunan, Jr.

Western Visayas secondary girls’ volleyball team manager Jose Montalbo, whose team took home bronze from the recent Palarong Pambansa, yesterday said he will fight to prevent every Visayan and Mindanaoan athlete from being recruited by the National Capital Region, who were named overall champions of the nationwide competition.

“It hurts that those players who dominated the competitions came from our region,” he said. “We want to keep our talents at home and near their families.”

The team manager said the “luxury offers” by Manila schools often draws athletes away from home.

“We will no longer allow our players to be taken out from our supervision,” Montalbo affirmed. “We will do everything we can to keep them here.”

He also noted, many athletes who go to Manila often fail to finish school and return home.

“Athletes, when in Manila, are prone to many challenges and disturbances,” Montalbo explained. “If they have not established [a] strong values foundation, they will fall and may not pursue their dreams.”

“These are the things that we want to avoid,” he added.

In his other role, as Bacolod Tay Tung High School vice president for sports, Montalbo want to focus on height.

“We may have the skills, but we were beaten by heights during the Palaro,” he said. “This year, we will bring our average height to a minimum of 5’6”; to be [on] par with NCR and Calabarzon.”

Calabarzon finished second in this year’s Palarong Pambansa, while the Western Visayas finished third./JSG, WDJ