Former Malateans Jayson Valdez and Sean Ocampo to Represent The Philippines in Shooting in the 31st SEA Games
Malateans represent! Malatean alumni Jayson Valdez and Sean Ocampo to showcase their skills in the upcoming 31st South East Asian (SEA) Games to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam. Both of them will represent the country in the sport of rifle shooting.
#SEAGames31 #SEAGamesHanoi2021
#TatakMalatean #ShootForGold #LabanPilipinas
Written by Joshua Granado
Layout by Raine Dela Cruz
Posted on May 1, 2022 | 7:55 PM
Jayson Valdez and Sean Ocampo are both graduates of secondary education at Malate Catholic School. Valdez graduated in the year of 2012, while Ocampo graduated last year, 2021. With the school’s core values of Faith, Excellence, and Service, Valdez and Ocampo have shown that they are skilled and capable in the art of rifle shooting, as such, they have been selected as two of the country’s representatives for the forthcoming 31st South East Asian Games.
In their young careers as rifle shooters, they have already displayed promising potential and great future in the sport, illustrated through their awards and accomplishments.
Although being distinguished rifle shooters in the present, Valdez and Ocampo were not really into shooting during their formative years.
Rifle shooting was not Jayson Valdez’s focus when he was young. He would only play shooting with his father, Julius Valdez, during his leisure time. Eventually, his father and teammate, Tac Padilla, convinced him to pursue a career in it, as he was showing mastery in the sport.
Valdez did exactly what his father and teammate advised. In 2009, he started competing in rifle shooting nationally. Despite being very young during his first international competition in the Asian Games 2010, Valdez has displayed excellency as he placed 24th in the 10m Air Rifle Men category, 53rd in the 50m Rifle Prone Men category, and 36th in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men category.
Also, he participated in the Olympics last 2021, ending the two-Olympic cycle absence of the Philippines in shooting. His experiences will surely help the Philippines shoot for gold in the upcoming SEA Games.
Competing with Valdez in the 10m Air Rifle Men Category in the nearing 31st SEA Games is Sean Ocampo.
Ocampo was inspired to try shooting by his cousin and older brother, as both of them were shooting and were being coached by their uncle, who is a former shooter. His uncle formally invited him to try shooting at the marines as an activity during his leisure time.
Then, when he was continuously practicing shooting and was showing interest in it, his uncle, cousin, and older brother invited him to practice at the range. There, he developed his love for the sport and decided to pursue a career in it, with the ultimate goal of representing the Philippines in the SEA Games or at least, becoming a member of the National Shooting Team.
Ocampo’s journey of being a student-athlete was not easy at all. Being an engineering student, he has to maintain a balance between his academics and training. Fortunately, all of his sacrifices in being a student-athlete paid off, as he was able to become a member of the National Team, and also a competitor in the upcoming SEA Games.
Yet, he affirmed that his young career would not end here, as he stated, “goal ko naman ngayon pagandandahin performance ko and makasali pa sa iba't ibang international competitions.” (Now, my goal is to enhance my performance and to join various international [shooting] competitions).
The exact schedule of their games is yet to be announced, but the schedule of the SEA Games is from May 16 up to May 22, 2022. Let us support our national athletes, and most especially, our Malatean shooting combo, Jayson Valdez and Sean Ocampo. Mabuhay, Pilipinas!