Cebu City trackster Joselu Rebalde fulfilling mission for family

REBALDE. / Mars G. Alison

JOSELU Rebalde further established herself as the hope of her family after bagging two gold medals so far in the ongoing Cebu-hosted Philippine National Games.

Rebalde, along with her teammate Prince Joey Lee, anchored Cebu City’s six gold medal haul in today’s athletics competition held at the Cebu City Sports Center.

The 23-year-old Rebalde is a native of Agusan del Norte but has been based in Cebu for four years already after she bagged a collegiate scholarship with the University of San Carlos (USC), where she is taking a course in Education Major in Physical Education.

Rebalde said she didn’t expect to win because the PNG is the biggest competition that she has ever joined and that she feared her opponents because she is not familiar with most of them.

But what makes her really happy about winning is that she is staying on course in her mission to give her family a better future.

Of 13 siblings, Rebalde is the 11th and the only one who has proceeded to college.

“I am the only hope for my parents because most of my older siblings have already gotten married, while my younger sister got pregnant early,” said Rebalde, adding that their youngest sibling had died already.

The trackster said that she started in sports when she was 13 years old and dabbled in volleyball and athletics. She was also quite successful in her younger years having represented Caraga Region in the Palarong Pambansa five times, once when she was in elementary and the rest during her secondary years.

But when she got to college, she chose to focus on athletics because it was also one of the reasons why she was determined of getting a college education because she wanted to continue competing in track and field.

She was so determined to continue both her sport and studies that she jumped at the offer for her to study at USC even though she will be far from her family.

Even her parents did not want her to come to Cebu but she pushed through because she knew this will be for their future.

On her first year, she said she had a hard time balancing her time between studies and sports, not to mention that she misses her family, but she eventually learned how to budget her time and turn to friends whenever she misses home.

And, she has also made USC and Central Visayas proud as she has also bagged several medals in the national PRISAA.

Rebalde said she would be honored if she be given a chance to join the national team. But even if she doesn’t get a spot, she is keen on finishing her studies and getting a job after.

Either way, she would still end up helping the family that raised her. Mission accomplished.