2011, the year that launched dragonboat's popularity

Basketball, football and rugby are some of the popular sports that made headlines in 2011 but dragonboat had its share owing to the conflict surrounding the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation (PDBF) team that competed in the World Championships. The incident happened in August after the PDBF team made the country proud by claiming five gold medals in the World Championships in Tampa, Florida. The Philippine Dragon Warriors' gold-medal winning ways was followed by an expose that the team failed to receive financial aid from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) because the Philippine Olympic Committee does not recognize the PDBF. The Philippine Dragonboat team, mostly made up of enlisted personnel in the Philppine Army, is allied with the PBDF leadership. The PDBF situation, which in the past was just a topic of conversation in the sports community, became a national issue. Unknown to many, the issue dates back to 2010 when the POC stopped recognizing the PDBF in lieu of the Philippine Canoe Kayak Federation (PCKF). According to the POC, there was a "directive" from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the PDBF to be under the PCKF. The PDBF didn't heed the POC's call and decided to go on without that recognition although that means not participating in IOC-sanctioned events like the Asian Games, which they failed to compete that year in Guangzhou, China. The PDBF team was unperturbed by the situation. Aiming to participate in the world championship, they were able to secure a private sponsor to fund the team's trip to Tampa. Even without government help, the Dragon Warriors had a successful run in the world championships setting new records in the 1,000-meter, 500m and 200m men's events, and the 200m and 500m mixed events. There was public outcry on the government's failure to support the team that gave honor to the country. The POC and PSC insisted that they didn't recognize the PDBF because of the IOC's directive. Several sports officials even went to the point of calling the team as "matanda" (has been) and "ampaw" (weakling). The issue led to a Senate inquiry but at present, it remained unresolved. The PDBF team continues to represent the country in international and local competitions while the PCKF-led canoe kayak team competed in the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia and won a gold medal in November. — JVP, GMA News