Central Visayas improves Palaro finish but Young remains dissatisfied with results
Vigan City, Ilocos Sur — Climbing from ninth place to fourth place, many would think the Central Visayas team in this year’s Palarong Pambansa did a pretty good job in this annual multisporting meet.
But not Cebu City Councilor Joy Augustus Young.
Young, the chairman of the Committee on Education of the Cebu City government, thinks the Central Visayas athletes didn’t quite benefit from the unified training program they went through prior to the sporting spectacle for student-athletes around the country.
“We spent almost P3-million for that unified training program. I don’t know what they did there, if they were just playing around,” said Young, who arrived in Vigan City last Thursday to observe the competition of the Central Visayas team which was mostly represented by athletes from Cebu City. “I was not impressed.”
It was Young who spearheaded the 20-day unified training program for the Central Visayas team at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) in the hopes of improving its worst finish in the Palarong Pambansa last year, wherein Region 7 placed ninth in Antique.
This year, Central Visayas finished fourth — its usual rank in the national meet — with a haul of 26-25-36 (gold-silver-bronze).
National Capital Region still topped the meet with a 100-70-50 haul while Calabarzon finished second with a 55-50-73 record. Western Visayas was at third with a medal tally of 46-45-55.
But Young believes the team could have done better if the unified training program was maximized.
“We lack the leadership in [this year’s] unified training program. It was so relaxed, so it was such a waste of resources,” Young said.
He said that for next year, he plans to give those in charge of the program a set of condition and standards in training to once again aim for a better finish in the meet. The next Palaro will be held in Davao City.
“I think I should assign someone who can overlook, monitor and lead the entire Central Visayas for next year’s unified training program. I will try to gather all the trainers and coaches who performed very well here and ask them to train the entire delegation [for next year],” Young said.
Young added that he will strengthen the “School For Sports” program in Cebu City where 10 public schools will have its own grassroots sports development program in the incoming school year. This aims to improve the percentage of Cebu City athletes who can qualify for the Palaro.
Central Visayas added three more gold medals late Friday evening to seal its fourth place finish, breaking the tie with the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in the medal tally.
CAR settled for fifth with a 25-22-23 tally.
University of Bohol’s Gerwin Asilo clinched the last gold for Central Visayas by beating Charles Con-el of Western Visayas in the bantamweight division of boxing at the Plaza Burgos in Vigan City.
In the secondary girls’ sepak takraw event, Bohol Province beat NCR in a three-set thriller, 24-25, 21-17, 20-21, to win the gold medal at the Immaculate Conception School of Theology in Vigan City. The team was composed of Emarie Provitsado, Joanne Palo, Rachelle Palomar and Jenevie Torrevillas.
In the elementary boys’ sepak takraw event, Central Visayas, manned by Cebu Province, edged Calabarzon, 21-19, 21-10. The team was manned by Fif Bry Cabang, Arjeil Joseph Butaslac and Reitchel Gordoncillo.
Meanwhile, DepEd 7 Assistant Director Sal Jimenez gave credit to the Negros Island Region (NIR) athletes who are now part of Central Visayas for bagging much needed gold medals.
The former NIR athletes contributed seven gold medals, five from its archers headed by Phoebe Nicole Amistoso of Sibulan town, Negros Oriental. The rest came from wrestling and swimming.
Dumaguete and the rest of Negros Oriental merged with the Negros Island to form the NIR the past two years. Last year, NIR placed fourth.
However, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte had revoked Executive No. 183, which dissolved NIR for lack of funds to fully establish the new region. This put Negros Oriental back to Central Visayas.