Foreign coaches, delegates cite Clark’s readiness for SEA Games

CLARK FREEPORT— Coaches and delegates from participating countries in the on-going Southeast Asian (SEA) Games expressed satisfaction on the readiness of this Freeport as one of the venues for hosting the biennial games here.

In an interview, Daniel John Simmons, coach of Thailand for the lawn bowl game, said that their team is having a “positive experience” since their arrival here.

Simmons cited the suitability of the facilities that were put up in this Freeport for their competition.

“We’ve been here for three days and it’s been a very positive experience. We’ve enjoyed the experience immensely and the facility here is brand new. Traditionally, to put up a facility like this would usually take 18 months but they have managed to put it up for only 40 days and to have this support and all of these things for Lawn Bowl in the Philippines is marvelous,” he added.

Simmons similarly lauded the hospitality of the people in this area, describing it as “warm, positive, and enjoyable.”

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s lawn bowl team manager Syed Zainal Abidin also said that their athletes were able to easily adapt to the sports venue here.

Abidin added that members of their team were able to enjoy their training here with the facility and accommodation provided to them.

“What I can say about the facility is that it is for everybody and it’s how we managed to adapt earlier. Of course, we were able to enjoy here especially because there’s a place to stay,” Abidin said.

Accordingly, Ronalyn Greenlees, competition manager for Lawn Bowl and one of the athletes representing the Philippines also thanked the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) in supporting them to put up the venue for their game.

Greenlees said that the delegations of the participating countries to the sport of lawn bowl are happy and thankful that they were able to hold the Lawn Bowl game here.

“Napakalaking pasalamat ng mga countries sa amin pero sabi ko sa kanila dapat tayong magpasalamat sa CDC dahil kung hindi sa kanila hindi kami nabigyan ng ganitong lugar then we won’t have our sports for the SEA Games kaya we’re very grateful,” she said.

Greenlees also underscored the potential of the lawn bowl facility here as a sports-tourism attraction. “We can bring a lot of tourists here through sports. We can also host big tournaments here each month para mas lumakas din ang national team ng lawn bowl.”

Aside from the sport of lawn bowl, Clark is also the official venue for other SEA Games competitions including Rugby 7’s, Archery, Dancesport, Petanque, Aquatics and Athletic games among others.