Philippines Joins Association of Sports Institute in Asia

The Philippines has joined the Association of Sports Institute in Asia (ASIA) to further enhance the training of national athletes.

Aside from the Philippines, the other new members of ASIA are Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal and Chinese Taipei.

ASIA, which was established in 2015 by Qatar’s ASPIRE Academy, Hong Kong Sports Institute and Singapore Sports Institute, brings together high-performance training centers in the region.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Jose Cojuangco Jr., Vice President Joey Romasanta and Secretary General Steve Hontiveros attended the ASIA Annual Congress held on April 28-29 in Hong Kong where the Philippines was officially recognized as a member.

ASIA aims to promote the best practices for the development of athletes through a comprehensive model of collaboration, exchange of expertise and networking opportunities for high-performance administrators across Asia.

The POC said the training of national athletes through ASIA would complement other programs of national sports associations and the Philippine Sports Institute since all parties want to make Filipino athletes world-class.

Meanwhile, the POC is planning to send judo and karatedo athletes to Japan next month as part of the ASIA program. (Jean T. Malanum/PNA)