WHAT started 25 years ago as a challenge to make medals mean more has grown into a grassroots dancersport movement that has reached more than 50,000 young scholars in Cebu, according to PSC Commissioner Ed Hayco.
Hayco, who continues to champion grassroots sports development as a member of the Philippine Sports Commission, recalled how former Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña challenged their group after they proudly presented their medals from the 2001 national competition.
Osmeña’s message was simple: medals would mean little unless the discipline, joy and life lessons learned through sport were brought to underserved communities.
Hayco and his team listened and never looked back.
For more than two decades, the program has provided free dancersport training, mentorship and opportunities to children from underserved communities, with more than 50,000 scholars eventually passing through its grassroots program.
Behind the initiative is a network of volunteers who have remained committed to the cause for years, organizing training, competitions and shows despite receiving little in return.
For Hayco, that dedication is what transformed dancersport from an advocacy into something much bigger.
He recalled meeting two elderly women who approached him after recognizing his work.
They told him the program was “no longer just an advocacy” but had become “a movement.”
That description continues to resonate with Hayco, whose work in dancersport now also aligns with his role in the PSC, where grassroots development remains a major part of the government’s sports agenda.
The impact of the program can be seen through athletes such as one individual named Wilbert, who grew up as a scavenger in a drug-infested community and survived on rice and salt before finding a different path through sport.
Wilbert eventually became a national champion and a member of the Philippine team.
He and his partner Pearl also won three gold medals at the 2018 Southeast Asian Games, turning a difficult childhood into an international sporting success story.
But Hayco considers Wilbert’s transformation beyond competition an even bigger victory.
After becoming a champion, Wilbert eventually returned to the program as a volunteer coach, helping the next generation of athletes.
“If not for sports, I would have been there too,” Wilbert once told Hayco.
Hayco acknowledged that Wilbert was not always an easy student, but the program refused to give up on him.
Today, he is not only a decorated athlete but also a disciplined adult and mentor.
Hayco also attempted to quantify the social value created by the program.
Using a conservative estimate of P500 per lesson, five sessions a week would amount to roughly P100,000 in training value per child each year.
With more than 50,000 scholars served through the years, Hayco estimates the program’s social value at around P5 billion.
But for the PSC commissioner, the real impact cannot be measured by medals or money.
It is measured through lives changed.
For 25 years, Cebu’s dancersport community has continued to train young people, produce champions and provide opportunities to children who might otherwise never have had access to organized sport.
And perhaps most importantly, those who once benefited from the program are now coming back to serve as coaches and volunteers themselves.
For Hayco, that is the true meaning of grassroots sports, not simply producing champions, but creating a cycle of athletes who eventually give back and help transform the next generation. (Jesus Nathaniel Valdez)
