The newly formed Cebu Weightlifting Association (CWA) is not wasting time and will immediately commence in identifying potential talents for the sport by making the Sisters of Mary Schools (SMS) Boystown a pilot school for weightlifting training.
According to CWA president Felix Tiukinhoy, the CWA has already organized a free training and a national event, and will immediately follow it up with a new project of training and identifying youth for future competitions.
“We will make the Sisters of Mary the model school for our grassroots development program. We are here to give them the opportunity to be able to go to college through weightlifting or if not, hopefully, be part of the national team and be an Olympian someday,” said Tiukinhoy.
Tiukinhoy added that with the charity school run by the Sisters of Mary having about 3,000 boys currently, it could become a goldmine for weightlifting. The school is located in Tungkop, Minglanilla, south of Cebu City.
According to Tiukinhoy, the CWA will provide equipment and a coach for the training, and asked for the school to provide an area for the training and to store the equipment.
“We will be providing the equipment and a coach to handle the program for free,” said Tiukinhoy.
Sr. Emelan Lee, the local superior of the SMS Boystown, said she is delighted with the offer and assured that they will provide an area for the sport.
“Yes, we are willing to provide the area. We are delighted with the offer because we need more extra curricular activities for the boys so they will not get bored. It will be good for them to be engaged in other activities aside from their academics,” said Sr. Lee.
SMS is also a beneficiary of the Cebu Province’s grassroots sports program spearheaded by the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission.