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| New NAS director Kiko Diaz wants the school to emulate how the Rafael Nadal Sports Academy groomed Alex Eala. PSA |
MANILA—The National Academy for Sports is eyeing to do the same for promising young Filipino athletes what the Rafael Nadal Sports Academy did for rising tennis sensation Alex Eala.
Newly-appointed NAS executive director Francis Carlos "Kiko" Diaz stressed this point on Tuesday, saying he underscored the idea of thinking globally at this time when he talked to the different program heads of the government-run academy upon assuming office last week.
“Alex Eala was an example of an athlete who was groomed and taught by a sports academy – the Rafael Nadal Academy with an academic program na naka-embed dun sa program niya,” said Diaz, appearing in the first session for 2026 of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the PSC media room.
“And kita naman natin si Alex Eala kung gaano kalaki yung kanyang tinatamasa at ini-enjoy na success sa ngayon.”
A former Dean at the University of the Philippines College of Human Kinetics, Diaz said the NAS is stepping towards that same direction as the Nadal Academy, founded by former no. 1 and retired Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal in 2016.
“Ganyan na rin ang ginagawa natin sa NAS actually. So it can be likened to that,” Diaz added in the same public sports program presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and the country’s only 24/7 app ArenaPlus.
“We’re looking at it na may challenges at hinaharap natin ito. And we're transforming all of these into opportunities, and we’re not lacking in seeking out partners to be able to deliver all of these funding to our student-athletes.”
Established in 2020 through Republic Act. No. 11470, the NAS has its main campus set up at the New Clark City Sports Complex in Capas, Tarlac where it currently housed 237 student-athletes.
Akin to the Philippine Science High School and the Philippine High School for the Arts in Los Baños, Laguna, Diaz said the academy has a two-fold responsibility.
“To provide quality and holistic secondary education to all student-athletes enrolled, and secondly, ito yung special niche nung mga naka-enroll doon. Sila ay dini-develop ng academy to become future national athletes ng ating bansa na hopefully, ay magre-representa sa atin from the sub-regional meets like the Southeast Asian Games, the regional like the Asian Games, all the way to the Olympics,” said the NAS executive director.
At the moment, the academy is focused on seven established sports, according to Diaz, who took over the post held previously by professor Josephine Joy Reyes.
“These are athletics, aquatics, taekwondo, badminton, table tennis, judo, and gymnastics,” said Diaz, pointing out that all of these sports are medal-rich Olympic events.
