Allianz backs Young Aetas’bid for OCR National Team Pool
Allianz Philippines has announced during a press
briefing last March 31 that it will support the pursuit of five young Aetas
until they make it to the Philippines’ obstacle course race (OCR) national team training pool.
It was a tough race for the five Aeta youths-- Gellyann B. Soria, 17, Ivy O. Pelayo, 16, Danilo B. Yugyug, 19,
Miracle D. Lansang, 21, and Jacob D.
King, 22 -- of Villa
Maria Integrated School (VMIS) in Porac, Pampanga as they competed for the 5K Elite Male
and Female categories in the recent Allianz OCR Sunday held at Filinvest, Alabang last Mach
31.
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| Five Aeta youths from the adopted school of Allianz in Porac, Pampanga competed for the 5K Elite races in the recent Allianz OCR Sunday held at Filinvest, Alabang last March 31. (L-R): Danilo B. Yugyug, 19; Ivy O. Pelayo, 16; Jacob D. King, 22; Gellyann B. Soria, 17; and Miracle D. Lansang, 21 |
Yugyug finished
without penalty in the top 15 of the race composed of 20 obstacles. Official
results of the whole race will be available by Wednesday, according to
organizers. A
participant needs to land in the top 5 to
secure a slot in the national team.
“Allianz
is supporting the quest of the five Aeta youth from Villa Maria in Pampanga to
be part of the national team pool. We are not putting a timetable, but what’s
important as of this point is they get the training they need. We are giving
them a chance to excel in the sport and the life skills to discover new
opportunities along the way,” said Allianz
Philippines chief marketing officer Gae Martinez.
She related that with the help of
Conquer Challenge, Allianz Philippines’ partner for the Allianz OCR Sunday,
they were able to identify the five Aetas who competed in the 5K Elite Races.
“Last December 2018, we brought 25
Aetas to join the Allianz Conquer Challenge in Clark. We were surprised at how
the Aetas excelled as they went through each obstacle without prior training.
But as our Aetasathletes explained, these obstacles are quite similar to what
they go through in their daily lives,” she said.
According to Atty. Al Agra, POSF president, Allianz
OCR Sunday was the first of a series of four National Team Qualifier events
supervised by the Pilipinas Obstacle Sports Federation (POSF) and organized by
Conquer Challenge. The
POSF is recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports
Commission (PSC) and World OCR (Obstacle Course Racing).
National team members are provided with
trainings here and abroad. The team is currently training at Pretty Huge
Obstacles, Asia’s first and largest multi-level obstacle sports facility with a
2,000 sqm floor area located at the Civic Center, SM Aura Premier in BGC,
Taguig.
Earlier,
Agra announced the training of the national team in the USA Olympic Training
Center in Colorado in time for the SEA Games, where OCR is expected to have a
debut as a medal sport or as an exhibition games.
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