TrickyRicky said:They're obviously a lower income country and don't have a lot of organized sports. Take a look at their, for example, olympic medal count and per capita pro sports programs. The Philippines is the 12th most populated country in the world at over 90,000,000, but there just isn't much interest or money put into athletic programs
Comprende?
Rick P.
All of this does not mean that the people are less athletic, it means they lack the wealth (as opposed to the ability) to compete with the rich nations. Perhaps there is some miscommunication. I read your original post to mean that they are less athletically capable (I disagree with that) when possibly you meant that they do not have a broad range of development systems in place for various sports and therefore do not compete at a world-level in those sports. That I will agree with. It's kinda like Australian hockey vs Canadian hockey or Australian cricket vs Canadian cricket. All in all I believe that the people from the Philippines are as capable athletically as anyone in the world, given a chance.
Note that if your comment is on-the-mark, it would imply that the Philippines’ invested a lot of money in pool in order to become a world power in the sport. I don't think that is the case, not when compared to the money rich nations invest in their sports infrastructure.
But this whole thing is so simple. Here our kids, lots and lots of them, play hockey. They go to indoor camps with the pros in the summers. They play in tournaments’ all over Canada, the US, and in Europe. As a result, little Saskatchewan with a mere 1M people, sends a disproportionate number of players to the NHL. That does not mean we are the hockey gods of the world ? No, it simply illustrates what a good development system does for a sport. When the kids in the Philippines’ have such access to tables and the desire to play pool, is it any wonder they end up where they do ?
Dave
