GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/22 October) — It’s all systems go for the Mindanao qualifying leg of the 2015 Philippine Youth Games-Batang Pinoy that will formally open on Saturday, Oct. 24, in nearby Koronadal City.
Lawyer Jay Alano, director of the Philippine Sports Commission’s 2015 Batang Pinoy national secretariat, said Thursday they have completed all preparations for the annual qualifying games that is expected to draw around 3,000 athletes.
She said some 22 local government units from Mindanao’s six regions have confirmed to participate in this year’s games, which is slated until Oct. 29 at the South Cotabato Sports Complex.
“Our playing venues, equipment as well as technical officials and personnel are now ready for the games,” she told reporters.
Alano said the registration of the participating athletes and delegation officials is currently ongoing at the city hall of Koronadal.
She said among the delegations that already arrived and completed their registration were those from Davao Occidental, Tawi-Tawi and Zamboanga City.
Following their registration, she said the athletes were given sleeping mats and brought to their assigned billeting quarters in local public schools.
Alano said the PSC will mainly supervise the conduct of the week-long games through its event clusters.
She said PSC Commissioner Jose Luis Gomez was designated as commissioner-in-charge for the Mindanao Batang Pinoy.
Top officials of the PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee and several National Sports Associations will also grace the event, she said.
The city was chosen by the PSC late last year to host the Mindanao leg of the Batang Pinoy games after it lost to Tagum City in the bidding for the hosting of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa.
The Philippine Youth Games–Batang Pinoy serves as the national sports competition program for children aged 15 years-old and below.
It is envisioned to address the country’s need for a “grassroots sports program centered on values formation inherent in the practice of sports and play.”
The annual games is spearheaded by the PSC in partnership with the Department of Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Leagues of Provinces, Cities, Municipalities and Barangays.
The POC and the NSAs run and oversee the technical management of the event.
Alano said the participating LGUs will be ranked based on their medal wins — gold, silver and bronze.
She said the top three finishers of medalists will qualify for the national championship slated on Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 in Cebu City.
The events featured in the games are arnis, athletics, swimming, triathlon, cycling, boxing, dance sport, cheerdance, volleyball, lawn tennis, table tennis, badminton, chess, softball, taekwondo, futsal, three-on-three basketball, sepak takraw, weightlifting, karatedo, and wrestling.
The Luzon Leg was held in Malolos, Bulacan last July 18 to 22 while the Visayas leg was hosted by Romblon on Aug. 23 to 28. (MindaNews)