AFTER a promising list of awardees in the 26th So Kim Cheng Sports Awards, the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) Davao eyes to discover more promising athletes in preparation for upcoming competitions once the pandemic is over.
AAK Davao chief instructor and Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation Incorporated Region XI director Rommel Tan said, despite the pandemic, their young karatekas and their elder counterparts are still having their training at least twice or thrice a week.
“Trainings are still ongoing via Zoom. We are happy and lucky to use this technology in which we can still monitor our practices. This is the in-thing right now in this pandemic. Some sports events are using it like chess and e-sports but for us, it is a good medium for our training,” said Tan, adding that they started their online practices since March 2020.
“The webinars from Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation which started recently are really inspiring the young kids, seeing their so-called idols who are sometimes doing the online training themselves,” he added.
AAK Davao reaped most awards in the SKC’s 26th edition having local boys Robert Lawrence Avacena (Male Athlete of the Year), Stephen James Cartagena, Jamie Danielle Nirza, Aldren Solon, Robert Bryan Dayanan Jr., Vryzyse Edelweiss Krebs, Jet Lu and Jofrey Albarico (Coach of the Year). AAK Davao also bagged the Sports Leadership Award through Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation Region XI secretary-general Jerson Tamayo.
AAK Davao’s grassroots development program saw Stephen James Cartagena and Aldren Solon already now part of the RP team Cadets division training pool.
“Both are still undergoing their regular training, via online through zoom. I still monitor them,” Tan said.
