By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

STAYING true to its vision of creating value in every property it develops, Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) recently unveiled Vermosa Sports Hub.
Anchored on the healthy and active lifestyle thrust, Vermosa Sports Hub is touted as the country’s first premier and professionally managed sports facility situated within a 700-hectare space of ALI’s mixed-use estate Vermosa in Imus, Cavite.
The Sports Hub is envisioned to be a complete destination designed specifically to provide an effective and complete training experience for the athletic lifestyle, offering a seamless integration of facilities and sports-related elements.
“What we are doing here right now is part of a bigger vision which is to create value for our customers. And for Vermosa it is about a healthy and active environment which we think will be beneficial for everybody and I believe we’re able to achieve that with the Sports Hub,” said Jay Teodoro, ALI senior division manager, Strategic Landbank Management Group, in an interview with BusinessWorld during the launch of Vermosa Sports Hub on March 16.
The facility boasts of an International Swimming Federation (FINA) standard, Olympic-size swimming pool equipped with the latest timing system by Omega and the Anti Wave Starting Blocks.
There is also nine-lane track oval built in accordance with International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) standards.
Football enthusiasts also have their space with a standard-sized football field with natural grass and a sand sub-base for good traction.
The Vermosa Sports Hub has a training and fitness club as well equipped with a sports science laboratory, to be managed by Sante Health & Fitness, Inc., which is suited for athletes who want to take the next step to reach peak performance.
Vermosa said retail outlets, including health and sports merchants, will soon open in the hub as well as areas for bike lanes, jogging paths and other outdoor sports facilities.
“At the very beginning we already knew that it is going to be about healthy and active living for Vermosa and one of the main considerations was what types of sports will be part of it. We could have gone with the popular sports, like basketball, but those kinds of sports are really taken care of by our residential developments. Everywhere you go you see a basketball court,” said Mr. Teodoro on how they went about the development of Vermosa.
“We saw a growing trend for sports like triathlon and the people who do triathlon are the kind of market we are targeting for Vermosa. Normally executives 35 and up, the ageless we call them. They don’t age but just change category,” he added.
Mr. Teodoro went on to say that their focused is on “non-traditional” sports, saying “We are looking at emerging sports, which is why we call Vermosa “Home of new-age sports in the Philippines.”
PATAFA TRAINING GROUND
Meanwhile, thanks to its partnership with the Ayala group, the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) gets to benefit from the Vermosa Sports Hub as it has been offered as a training area for the country’s national athletes.
“Under our agreement it will be the home of the PATAFA national team. This is where we will train starting in April. We will start setting up camp here in preparation for the Asian Games and SEA Games in Manila,” said PATAFA President Philip Ella Juico in a separate interview during the launch.
“Our athletes are very excited about this new facility. In fact, [Olympian long jumper] Marestella Torres was able to use it already. Facilities like this are very important for us as it would allow us to be together and work as a team in a semi-controlled environment,” the PATAFA head added.
To ensure that Vermosa Sports Hub is accessible to the growing market of sports enthusiasts, competitive rate packages and period-based membership passes are being offered by the company.
“Traditional product for real estate developers is sports and country club. That is normally exclusive. But we feel it is not being maximized and the operations tend to suffer. We feel by opening it (Vermosa) to the public and handling it professionally, we get more from it,” Mr. Teodoro said.
For more information on Vermosa Sports Hub, check out https://vermosa.ph/vermosa-sports-hub.

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