CEBU CITY SPORTS ACADEMY
Central Visayas is expected to rebound from its embarrassing 9th place finish in last April’s Palarong Pambansa in Antique with the construction of a sports academy at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
That dream however is not expected to happen overnight.
Cebu City Councilor Joy Augustus Young said construction of the eight storey facility is expected to start before the year ends and finish in two to three years..
Young, the Cebu City Deputy Mayor for Education said the sports academy will replace the CCSC’s indoor parking lot and will be used solely as a training facility for both athletes and coaches of Cebu City’s public schools.
Cebu City athletes compose the core of the region’s delegation to the Palaro being the perennial champions of the Central Visayas Athletic Association (CVIRAA) meet.
The Cebu City Sports Academy is different from the Cebu City Sports Institute in Barangay Sawang Calero which is under the Cebu City Sports Commission in that the latter is for grassroots development.
“Hopefully before the year ends we can start the construction. However, I cannot reveal the exact budget of this project because I still have to meet with Cebu City sports leaders for consultations,” said Young.
The region’s 9th place finish last summer is its worst performnace in the annual athletic competition for elementary and high school athletes. It’s best performance happened in 1994 when the region hosted the games and finished second overall.
Since then it has placed either 4th or 5th until this year when it tumbled all the way down to 9th among 18 regional teams.
Young said that the sports academy, which is patterned after Singapore’s sports program, has been on the planning board since 1994.
“After we hosted the 1994 Palarong Pambansa, we already planned to put up a sports academy just like Singapore but it was never realized because it was near the end of my term.”
The academy will house different specialized sports including athletics, swimming and other medal-rich events.
Private schools and universities in Cebu City have their own training facilities unlike public schools which lack quality training centers. The sports academy is expected to address this problem.
“We want the entire public schools in Cebu City to benefit from this project because we want to strengthen Cebu City’s athletes and coaches for the Palarong Pambansa,” added Young.
He also clarified that private schools and universities are still eligible to compete in the Palarong Pambansa contrary to earlier reports.