Once just a vision, Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino’s brainchild has finally come to fruition as the inaugural Southeast Asian Plus Youth Games held its first Executive Council Meeting at Solaire Resort in Parañaque City on Saturday.
The SEAPYG was conceived to bridge the gap between grassroots competitions and the international stage, giving young athletes a regional platform before advancing to the Asian Youth Games.
“Naisip ko yan nung (2025) Bahrain Asian Youth Games. Asian Youth Games papunta sa Youth Games parang kulang. Ano ‘yan pagdating ng school, diretso ka na sa Asian Youth Games? Sila Palarong Pambansa, sila Batang Pinoy diretso na sa Asian Youth Games? Parang may kulang,” said Tolentino during the post-meeting press conference.
“Kulang eh. So ito yun. Southeast Asian Plus Youth Games. Bakit plus? Para yung non-Southeast Asian maisama natin para mas marami, mas maganda, competitive.”
Eight Southeast Asian nations attended the Executive Council Meeting, along with representatives from 15 countries from neighboring regions under the event’s “Plus” component. Among them were the Maldives, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Chinese Taipei, Bahrain, and Nepal.
Other National Olympic Committees invited to the meeting but unable to attend included Japan, Palestine, North Korea, and India. Despite their absence, Tolentino remains optimistic that they will still take part in the inaugural edition of the Games.
“Una, nagpapasalamat kami sa lahat ng umattend. Sa lahat ng nag-participate dito sa first council meeting ng SEAPYG for next year. Sinabi ko nga na we’re praying na lahat ng umattend ay mag-participate. Lahat din nung — yung ibang di umattend, magparticipate din,” he said.
“Dalawang school of thoughts. Pwedeng umattend ngayon pero hindi pala magpaparticipate. Pwedeng wala dito pero magpaparticipate. So, kaya sabi ko kanina na we’re praying na lahat ng nandito will participate. And, positive naman. I think they will. So, this will be a very, very good start and exciting and for the country, for the youth, lahat nandito na,” he added.
The first SEAPYG is scheduled for December next year and will be staged across four venue clusters: Manila City, Pasig City, Tagaytay City, and Subic.
Local Organizing Committee president and CEO Tatas Suzara said his priority is to ensure that the under-16 multisport event is conducted according to international standards.
“Of course, my role here as President, CEO is to make sure we deliver the games with international standards. I think, with 23 sports and four clusters, we will be able to deliver at par with international standards with different sports,” said Suzara.
Suzara also highlighted that the Games will maximize the use of facilities under the Philippine Sports Commission, led by chairman Pato Gregorio, including the PhilSports Complex in Pasig City and the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
PSC chairperson Bong Coo was also present during the meeting.
“The main objective is also to use the PSC sports facilities. It’s one of the highlights of Chairman Pato and the Commissioner Bong here is to use world-class facilities of the Philippine Sports Commission, the Rizal Memorial Complex, and PhilSports Arena,” said Suzara, who also serves as president of the Asian Volleyball Confederation.
“So this is one of the strong agreement with President Bambol and Chairman Pato, so this makes us also more meaningful, upgrading all the facilities to world-class facilities.”
