ABAP plans to beef up lady boxers' training pool

Buoyed by the success of its women’s team in the 25th Laos Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) intends to further widen its training pool especially now that the sport will be included in the 2012 London Olympics.

ABAP president Ricky Vargas said recruiting potential lady boxers is definitely among the association’s top priority in 2010. Unlike the men’s team where talent is abundant, Vargas said the same is not the case as far as the women’s team is concerned. Hopefully, the gains made by the trio of gold medal winners Annie Albania, Alice Kate Aparri and Josie Gabuco, along with bronze medalist Mitchel Martinez will be a good way to entice women to take up the sport. “We only have a lean pool of boxers for the women’s team so we do need to recruit more talents," said Vargas. ABAP executive director Ed Picson noted that the women’s team currently has only 13 boxers in its pool, including the four who saw action in the biennial meet. Vargas said the coaching staff of Boy Catolico and Barcelona Olympics bronze medalist Roel Velasco will personally travel around the Philippines to look for potential athletes. “We now plan to spot talents, recruit them in the national team and then develop them," said Vargas. The women’s team actually had been on a winning mode this year. Albania won the gold medal in the Asian Indoor Games in Hanoi Vietnam, where Martinez also snared a silver and Gabuco a bronze. Two months later, Albania, Gabuco and Aparri bagged a gold each in the SEA Games, serving as the backbone of the RP boxing squad’s five gold haul and finish runner-up to Thailand in the overall championship. “We’re definitely proud of our women’s team. Their victory is not only theirs, but also of women in sports in general," said Vargas. – GMANews.TV