Atienza named Presidential assistant on youth, sports

MANILA Sports Council (Masco) chairman Arnold “Ali” Atienza was recently appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Presidential Assistant on Youth and Sports.
       The appointment of the 33-year old son of Manila Mayor Lito Atienza was signed by the President last April 19, 2006, and was coursed through Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Presidential Chief of Staff Mike Defensor.
       “It is indeed a great honor for me to be able to further contribute to the national youth and sports development agenda of the President,” said the young Atienza.
       “I would like to thank the President for her trust and confidence which truly inspires me to give my best and for seeing our effort of putting premium on the youth.”
       Atienza, the 1994 Asian taekwondo champion who was chosen by both the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) and Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines (Scoop) as the 1994 “Taekwondo Jin of the Year,” is the president of the 8,000-strong Kabataan ng Maynila and adviser of the more than 6,000 Sangguniang Kabataan leaders under the Manila Youth (MY) and the 400-member Alliance of Manila Youth Organizations (AMYO).
       A staunch proponent of grassroots sports, Atienza conceptualized the highly successful and biggest city-wide sports meet in the country today—the Manila Youth Games (MY Games).
       Also a brainchild of Atienza is the MY Games National Invitational - the first national multievent competition initiated by a local government unit (LGU) which is aimed at further widening the scope of LGU involvement in providing new avenues for identification, recruitment and talent exposure.
       Atienza is also responsible for what is now known as the biggest one-day foot race on Philippine soil—the Manila Marathon, which annually draws a mammoth field of over 50,000 runners.
       Among the other youth- and sports-oriented programs conceived by Atienza, who was also given the 2003 PSA Lifetime Achievement Award and 2004 Scoop Sports Leadership Award, are the Kasibulan Football Tournament, Manila Open Taekwondo Championships, Manila Mayor’s Cup Swimming Championships and the FIVB award winner Park Volleyball Tournament, to name a few.