From left, SM Seaside City Cebu regional operations manager Marylou Neri, Milo Sports executive Robbie de Vera and Visayas Regional Finals organizer Ricky Ballesteros lead a press conference for the upcoming Visayas Regional Finals.
CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO
In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Milo Little Olympics will be giving ‘Most Outstanding Athletes’ (MOA) awards in the regional competitions.
It starts during the Visayas Regional Finals, which opens today at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC). Competition proper starts tomorrow.
The MOA awards was one of the highlights of the defunct Milo Little Olympics national finals, which was last held in Laguna in 2015. This award was given to the best performing athletes in each of the 15 sporting events.
This news was announced yesterday by Milo sports executive Robbie de Vera during the official launching of the meet at the SM Seaside City Cebu. He was joined by Visayas Regional Finals organizer Ricky Ballesteros and SM Seaside City Cebu regional operations manager Marylou Neri.
De Vera said the move was made to brighten the chances of finding talents in different parts of the country.
“Before, [the MOA] was awarded during the national finals. Now, we decided to award these athletes in the regional level,” said De Vera, saying that Mary Joy Tabal’s success in the ongoing Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Malaysia had also something to do with the decision.
“We went to Malaysia to watch the Southeast Asian Games since Milo is a silver sponsor and we are happy to witness the performances of our Filipino athletes there just like the case of Mary Joy Tabal who won the gold medal in marathon. We all know that she’s also a product of Milo sports program and many other athletes there who are competing right now that’s why we are very encouraged to bring the MOA award to the regional level so that we can discover more athletes.”
The tournament managers will be selecting the best athletes in each of the 15 sporting events. Each awardee will receive a one-year supply of Milo products.
Every four years
Meanwhile, De Vera also said they are planning to bring back the national finals. But they plan to hold it every four years. They are targeting to start in 2020.
“The reason why Milo stopped organizing the national finals is to start supporting in a bigger way like Palarong Pambansa which is the biggest grassroots sports event in the country. We moved the investment there from the national finals,” said De Vera.
This year’s regional battle is expected to be a tough one, especially with the return of 17-time secondary division champion University of Cebu (UC) and the participation of teams from Bacolod, Bayawan City and Bohol.
The University of San Carlos-Basic Education (USC-BED) is the defending champion in both the elementary and secondary divisions.