November 23, 2025 | 12:00am
PSC chairman Patrick Gregorio said the other day his eyes were opened during the recent Batang Pinoy where archery, futsal, taekwondo and swimming had hundreds, if not thousands, of participants, much more than in traditional sports like basketball and volleyball. It lit a fire in his heart as he envisioned a thrust in emerging sports with PSC leading the initiative.
“To be honest, nagulat ako sa dami ng participants,” he said. “Take futsal, for example. There were hundreds of players from nearly every LGU. I think we had 500 to 600 in archery and it helped that we brought in a Korean coach Ryu Ju-seng, known for developing Olympic medalists, for our national team. There are other emerging sports we can push like netball, floorball and handball but I’m excited about futsal especially since we’re currently hosting the first FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup.”
Gregorio said with the sprucing up of PhilSports Arena for the FIFA competition, he’s not discounting the idea of turning it into a dedicated futsal venue. “A lot of our arenas default to a basketball court after an event of a different sport but there are more than enough basketball stadiums around like MOA Arena, Ynares, Araneta, FilOil and the UAAP Akari coming up,” he noted. “Maybe it’s time we dedicate an arena for futsal and we could excite FIFA to help us in laying out a seven-year development plan for football. We’ve got a chance to do something big for football which, as they say, is ‘bagay’ to Filipinos. We worked out a seven-year development plan with FIVB and after hosting the Men’s World Championships this year, we’ll do the Women’s World Championships in 2029. I think with PFF and FIFA, we can work out a similar joint project.”
Gregorio said hosting a world sporting event is an investment. “I’m betting on sports and tourism,” said Gregorio, who was recently appointed by President Marcos as chairman of the National Sports Tourist Inter-Agency Committee. “Sports can help the economy if we attach it to tourism and it’s a great way to promote our country. In January, we’re hosting our first-ever WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open with Alex Eala playing. We’re now refurbishing the Rizal courts but I foresee in two years, we’ll need a bigger venue to host a WTA 250.”