Cebu City – Some 5,000 athletes and officials converged this city during the opening of the Philippine National Youth Games or Batang Pinoy National Championships yesterday sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
The participants were the medalists during the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Qualifying Legs which were held at Malolos, Romblon and Koronadal, respectively.
The solidarity meeting was graced by PSC Commissoners Jolly Gomez and Akiko Thompson attended by a thousand officiating officials from various National Sports Associations. The parade started at past 4pm and ended at the colorful opening ceremonies at the Cebu City Sports Center.
?This is their chance to show how good they are. I?m sure in this edition we can see a lot of talent that we can develop,? said Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Ritchie Garcia.
I attended the solidarity meeting of the officials and joined our Maasin City delegation of 60 athletes, coaches and officials during the parade and opening rites.
The Batang Pinoy is a program for children 15 years old and below designed to discover potential international campaigners.
The 17 events of the National Finals will be hosted by Cebu City, two by Cebu Province, four by Mandaue City and four by Danao City.
The events to be conducted in Cebu City are athletics, badminton, beach volleyball, boxing, chess, futsall, handball, karatedo, lawn tennis, rugby football, sepak takraw, softennis, swimming, taekwondo, volleyball, wushu and cheerdance.
The events to be hosted by Cebu Province are table tennis and dance sports; while arnis, wrestling, weightlifting and pencat silat are to be played in Mandaue City; while the 3-on-3 basketball, cycling, triathlon and softball are to be competed in Danao City.
