The Mandaue City delegation acknowledge their introduction onstage during the opening ceremony of the CVRAA 2014 at the Cebu City Sports Center. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
The 2014 Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVIRAA) multi-sporting meet will be more than just a competition among some of the best young athletes of the region.
In a speech during yesterday’s opening ceremony at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC), Department of Education (DepEd) Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Rhea Mar Angtud said this year’s event can be a source of motivation for athletes who experienced the twin tragedies that hit the region last year.
“Let’s make the CVIRAA an avenue to make new friends, a source of strength and belongingness,” Angtud said.
Parts of Central Visayas were devastated after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol last Oct. 15 and the Nov. 8 supertyphoon that passed straight through Cebu’s northern areas. “Bisan unsa pa ang kalamidad mo abot nato, di ta padaog,” Angtud added.
Preparations of some athletes, particularly those from Bohol, were affected because of the twin calamities but still, they managed to make it to Cebu for this annual multi-sporting meet that stakes slots to the Central Visayas team that will compete in this year’s Palarong Pambansa in Laguna this May.
HOSTS READY
Meanwhile, Angtud said the organizing crew is ready to roll out the red carpet for the 18 visiting delegations competing in 18 sporting events for the entire week.
“With the blessing of Mayor Michael Rama, we are ready to host this prestigious meet,” Angtud said.
Cebu City is hosting this event for the first time since 2000. The Niños are the defending overall champions and the core of their team will be athletes from Cebu City Olympics secondary and elementary champions University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department (USC-BED). They are tasked to defend the city’s 20-year title in the regional meet against other determined and equally talented divisions such as Cebu Province, which finished second last year.
Among Cebu Province’s top bets are its tracksters and boxers and 10-time CVIRAA champion and nine-time Palarong Pambansa elementary girls’ volleyball champion Catmon Central School.
Mandaue City, last year’s third placer, also boasts of a strong team led by Palarong Pambansa basketball secondary champions Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC).
Perennial badminton elementary division champion Banilad Elementary School is also playing under the Mandaue banner.
Around 10,000 athletes and delegates swarmed the CCSC as Cebu City formally opened the CVIRAA meet yesterday.
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