ABSTRACT
In the wake of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the United States acquired the Philippines in its quest to vie with the imperial powers of Europe for world leadership. The Americans’ extended occupation of the archipelago resulted in the imposition of administrative, political, religious, economic, military, educational and athletic regulations in order to govern and modernise the polyglot native inhabitants of the islands. Filipinos accepted some of the dictates while adopting, adapting and rejecting others. Sport, in particular, became a means for the Filipinos to challenge the Americans’ notions of racial, religious and cultural superiority. It provided opportunities for the creation of their own national heroes in the construction of a national identity.
