Ex-national team player named Manila Sports Council chief

MANILA, Philippines — Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno-Domagoso has named former national team athlete Dale Evangelista as chairman of the Manila Sports Council (MASCO), one of the key appointments the incoming chief of the country’s capital city.

The 46-year-old Evangelista played for the water polo national team in various international competitions and has helped in the coaching staff under then mentor Rey Galang.

Mareno has mentioned that he wants improvement on the city’s sports program, particularly from the grassroots level in an hopes of discovering new talents for the nation team.

“I’m very much thankful to be given an opportunity by Mayor Isko to serve our beloved City of Manila, for his trust and confidence. It’s such a huge honor,” said Evangelista, who has served as chairan of Barangay 56 in Tondo.

“The instruction of Mayor Isko is very clear — he wants to see programs that will help our grassroots development; he wants to see athletes from the city capital make the national team; and he wants these things to be standardized to ensure continuity within the Manila Sports Council (MASCO) program,” he added.

Evangelista said that focus now is forming a strong Team Manila for Batang Pinoy this year in General Santos City.

Tryouts will soon be scheduled to determine the composition of Team Manila.

“Of course we want to send a strong team. The goal is for Team Manila to win the overall championship,” said Evangelista.

Regarding the programs of MASCO, Evangelista said that there is a possibility of reviving the Manila Youth Games, as well as plans to bring back the Manila Marathon, and holding tournaments for esports.

At the moment, Evangelista said his focus is establishing his team that will help in implementing the programs.

“Our time with the national team both as an athlete and as a coach taught me valuable lessons. It also allowed me to create good relationships to sports people who we believe can help us improve MASCO,” he said.

Evangelista won three silver medals in the Southeast Asian Games, including the 2005 edition in Manila, 2007 in Bangkok and 2009 in Laos, and earned a bronze in 2003 in Vietnam.

In 2019, he was the chief deputy to Rey Galang when the national team bagged a silver medal when the country last hosted the biennial meet.

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