Cebu to host Batang Pinoy Finals

CEBU, Philippines - After begging off for several times, the Queen City of the South has finally accepted the hosting chores of the Philippine Youth Games-Batang Pinoy National Championships on November 27 to December 2 mainly at the Cebu City Sports Center.

The Cebu City Sports Commission under the dynamic leadership of  Edward Hayco has finally picked up the cudgels in running the week-long tilt after seeing the advantages that comes with being the host.

The annual event is for Filipino athletes aged 15 years and below. Team representations, however, are done by local government units, that may be a form of provincial, city, municipality or even barangay. Thus, no one can join in without accreditation of an LGU.

As host, Team Cebu City will no longer go through the qualifying stage unlike in the previous years. Aside from that, TCC can also send more entries or team in any sport featured in the multi-sport conclave.

"It is a privilege given to the host. They no longer have to go through the qualifying. We can also accommodate more than one team for them provided that they will represent a specific barangay (or district of the city). We can work our way around on this," said Batang Pinoy project director Jay Alano during a meeting the Hayco and commissioner Bernard Ricablanca recently at the Philippine Sports Commission head office in Manila.

Hayco said the purpose of fielding in as many athletes possible and not only the so-called "elite squad" is for exposure as well as to boost their level of confidence without having to spend much.

Cebu Province, as co-host, also enjoys a direct entry to the national finals but, should they decide to have more than one team in a certain sport though, only one gets automatic berth to the finale, while the rest will go through the elimination round.

The Luzon qualifying is set July 20-25 in Malolos, Bulacan, the Visayas leg on September 21-26 in Romblon and the Mindanao leg on October 25-29 in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.

Romblon is actually part of Luzon, but they were given the nod to host the Visayas eliminations for showing eagerness to host it.

A total of 34 events are featured in the Batang Pinoy. These include  archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, billiards, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, fencing, futsal, gymnastics, judo, karatedo, lawn tennis, Muay Thai, pencak silat, rugby football, sailing, shooting, soft tennis, softball, sepak takraw, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu. Three are demonstration sports in handball, petangue, and fin swimming.

Baseball, gymnastics, judo, sailing, and shooting, however, will be staged in Bulacan together with the cheerleading contest. (FREEMAN)