MVPSF and Gymnastics Association of the Philippines Begin Partnership

After five successful years, the MVP Sports Foundation is gearing up for even bigger things. This year marks the beginning of a new Olympic Cycle and journey towards Tokyo 2020. One of the MVPSF initiatives is its partnership with the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) in developing promising young gymnast Carlos “Caloy” Yulo.

This young gymnast has been competing locally since 2008 and dominated his age group. In 2013, Carlos began his international career representing the Philippines. At a young age, he proved that he could hold his own against stronger and older competition by producing medals in his competitions. This prompted the GAP to reach out to sponsors in order to help Carlos reach his potential. Thus, the MVPSF and GAP started a partnership that will help Carlos qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.     

Ever since 2016, Carlos has been training with the Japanese Gymnastics Association. Enabled by the strong relationship of GAP and JGA, Carlos is able to train in a world-class training center with the best facilities and training partner thereby exposing him to the latest in coaching technology. Moreover, Carlos is also able to continue his education through personalized schooling revolving around his training schedule.

With the help of the MVPSF, the GAP is able to provide topnotch training and education for its top athlete. In line with the MVPSF’s goal of uplifting the level Philippine Sports and providing opportunities for its promising and proven athletes, the MVPSF-GAP Partnership aims to see Carlos achieve his goals and bring pride to our country thereby inspiring the future gymnasts of the Philippines.

2017 First Quarter Report (from coach Kugiyima Manihiro and coach Van Simon Talingting)

January

There are very important competitions this year—World Championships, Asian Championships, South East Asian Games, World Junior Championships and the Ryukin Cup. This year is also the last year as a junior for Caloy. As expected we will be facing tough competition since these are major competitions that teams really prepare for. The target is always the same: medal in the All Around Competition. Carlos has shown that he can do it, and we will continue to build on the confidence he has since winning is not new to him.

After the holiday break, Carlos came to training camp very motivated. He is aware of the responsibility and discipline that is required of him to achieve the moves that he needs to execute.  This is a good sign for us.

February

His best is yet to come. Carlos is now working on the new moves that he will need in the coming competitions. However, his body is still adjusting to these new techniques. At the moment, we are monitoring injuries to his ankle and wrist but he continues to fight through it and is not missing any training time.

Carlos joined a club competition this month despite injuries. He was able to compete in 3 apparatus: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse and Vault in spite of his injuries. The tournament showed us his progress in terms of his technique. Overall, it was a solid showing for him. Nothing spectacular yet but he landed well at the Vault and we are looking to add elements for the competition this May at the Asian Championships. For the Pommel Horse and Floor Exercise, Carlos placed well (Silver in Floor and 4^th place in Pommel Horse) but these were achieved with his routines from last year. For now he needs to add new moves in preparation for May.

March

Despite the injuries, we are pleased with the progress of Carlos. He is continuing to progress towards his target routines and we are happy that he is getting better. In the Japan Gym he gets to spent some training time with KOHEI UCHIMURA. He is a 19-time world medalist and seven-time Olumpic medalist. This should provide motivation and inspiration for him.

However, his injuries continue to pose a problem. Right now Carlos is experiencing shoulder pain, but overall he is doing well. Hopefully he continues to make progress. May will bring us Asian Championships and Asian Junior Championships. Team Japan is strong and they are the main contenders. Hopefully Carlos can beat them and get the gold medal in Individual All-Around. If he can execute flawlessly he has a chance to get the medal.

April

This month was busy for Carlos. With one month left, his training is more intensive with two evaluations and he is also trying to learn from other gymnasts by watching competitions. This approach can help him by adding to his techniques and motivation.

His Asian Championships Evaluation was also done this month. He did not fall and his 79.8 All Around score could get a medal in the competition. Though there no major mistakes, there were still minor adjustments we need to work on.

In his evaluation for the Asian Juniors, he fell three times. This turned out to be a good experience for him and it is better to make the mistakes now than later in the competition proper. Moreover, he did his evaluation while training with top members of the Japanese National Team thus giving him different environment while doing his routine. Allowing him to train in a more competitive environment is crucial for his preparations. The more competitive environment motivates him to