Home of Skating Champions hopes to further hone Filipino talent through spaces built to max out their potential
Following the monumental ice sports wins of the Philippines at the recently concluded Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, SM through the SM Sports and Leisure Center (SLC) honors the country's best skating athletes by welcoming them home.
“It goes without saying that we at SM stand with the whole Filipino community in expressing our pride over having you as the country's representatives,” said SM SLC Senior Assistant Vice President Joseph Silva.
The Philippines had a haul of eight medals for ice sports—one for gold, three for silver, and four for bronze.
For Speed Skating, Peter Groseclose brought home a gold and silver medal for the 500-meter and 1500-meter Short Track categories respectively. Additionally, the Men and Women's Speed Skating Relay teams earned podium finishes—Groseclose, Hans Buemio, Sunphil Zablan, and Jhan Cyruz Asuncion comprised the men's athletes while Shaelynn Bolos, Xsandrie Guimba, Ethelmae Suguitan, and Caitlyn Benitez made up the women's team.
In the Figure Skating competition, Maxine Marie Bautista brought home silver for the Women’s category and Paolo Borromeo brought home bronze for the Male Category. Another exciting triumph came in the win of the newly-debuted Women's Ice Hockey team joining the Men's Hockey Team in a successful haul of Silver and Bronze respectively.
SM Supermalls: Making spaces that max out the potential of ice athletes and build champions
With the mission of revolutionizing sports engagement in the country, SM SLC ensures its Skating Rinks are the best spaces conducive for coaches and athletes to simulate their winning plays and routines.
Prior to the SEA Games, SM's Olympic-sized skating rinks served as the main training space for the country's representatives: The Ice Hockey teams found their home base at SM Skating Mall of Asia and the Speed Skating athletes maximized their plays at SM Skating Megamall.
“SM believes that effectively supporting our skating athletes is a holistic effort to max out their talent, not just giving them a base to train. This means building up our local skaters starts earlier in their career, when they may have limited resources and highly depend on accessible spaces that can nurture their grit without wasting their passion,” Silva said. “The other side of that coin is giving them opportunities for exposure to allow them to shine and build their confidence.”
In this regard, SM Skating has hosted international tournaments for Figure Skating, Speed Skating, and Ice Hockey. This in turn, provided athletes more competitive avenues to gain experience, testing their plays and routines against skaters from different countries. Silva also noted that exposure was a key contributor to strengthen support for ice sports such as in the case for Ice Hockey where international competitions like the SEA Games increased the growing popularity of the game in a nation not native to ice-based competitions.
Beyond its celebration of the athlete's wins, SM also awarded supplementary ice time to the winners to further support their training and practice sessions.
“Our celebration today goes beyond acknowledging the wins of our athletes—people may sometimes forget that the fast moment of their winning plays and flawless routines took months, even years, to build and perfect. That meant tireless practice and grueling repetition, and SM is proud to be the home that provides them spaces built for the sole purpose of bringing the best out of every athlete—whether they are just starting out or have grown into competitive skaters,” said Silva.
SM Sports and Leisure Center
With the mission of revolutionizing fitness and sports engagement in the country, SM Sports and Leisure Center (SLC) is dedicated to max out the sports experiences of Filipinos—whether through fun bonding moments or high adrenaline competition. Its commitment is to building spaces Where Winning Begins, conducive for bringing out the best in every moment, play, and routine. (SM Supermalls)
