MANILA, Philippines – With a new set of officials at the helm, the Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) hopes to discover fresh talents for the national team from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and top Metro Manila schools like Ateneo and University of the Philippines (UP).

“We would like to target the PMA, the police, and the college students. You have Ateneo, they have a very active shooting club, and [also in] UP,” said PNSA secretary general Frank Gudani. 

Gudani believes that the PMA will be loaded with potential national team members as proven by Hoàng Xuân Vinh, who won Vietnam’s first Olympic gold medal in Rio 2016. The 43-year-old is a member of the military when he participated in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

“The Olympic gold medalist of Vietnam was a military man. He started shooting as a second lieutenant. He got the gold in the 2016 Olympics in Rio but he was already a colonel when he got to the Olympics,” added Gudani. 

In the collegiate scene, the Ateneo Rifle Pistol Team has been a fixture in the university and is an accredited team in its College Athletics Office. UP and Far Eastern University (FEU) also have active shooting teams. 

The PNSA, though, continues to lobby for the inclusion of shooting in the UAAP and NCAA. 

“Ang active ngayon Ateneo, UP, PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines), FEU, so ang goal kasi kahit maging demo sport lang sa UAAP and NCAA. Kung talagang kumpleto na, we want to invite the officers of the UAAP para makita nila yung aming ginagawa, para ma-enganyo sila (gawing demo sport ang shooting),” said board member Roland  Ejastro. 

(Ateneo, UP, PUP, FEU are so active, so the goal is to make shooting a demo sport in the UAAP and NCAA. If the schools are complete, we want to invite the officers of the UAAP to see what we are doing so that they will be excited to include shooting as a demo sport.) 

Former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson was elected PNSA president and will be one of the main backers of the organization. The trap shooting specialist replaced Richard Fernandez as the federation president. 

The federation looks to include potential gold-medal events in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games that will be hosted by the Philippines. 

“Ang gusto kasi ni (president) lahat lang ng gold na events. Meron (chance) yung mga sumama sa Asian Games sa mga shotgun at rifle. Ang strongest namin yung practical,” said Gudani. 

(President Singson wants all the potential gold-medal events. The Asian Games-bound players who will join the shotgun and rifle will also have a chance to have their events included. We are strongest in practical shooting.) 

Jayson Valdez, Joaquin Ancheta, Hagen Topacio and Amparo Acuña will represent the Philippines in the 2018 Asian Games shooting tournament in Palembang, Indonesia this August. – Rappler.com