Members of PADS Adoptive Dragon Boat Racing Team are all set to make the country proud in the 2019 CCB (Asia) Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Race that will be held at the Victoria Harbour from June 14 to 16, 2019 /Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Members of the Philippine Accessible Disability Services, Inc (PADS) are all geared up for their upcoming race in Hong Kong scheduled from June 14 to 16, 2019.
John Paul Maunes, PADS executive director, told CDN Digital said that they are now one hundred percent ready to compete in the 2019 CCB (Asia) Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races that will be held at the Victoria Harbour and “bring home the bacon.”
“The team is aiming for a three-peat this year. Gi double nato ang efforts pa jud ug wala jud ta mo kumpyansa. We are hungry as ever to win our race,” he said.
Maunes said that it took them months of rigorous training and challenges for team members to be where they are now.
“Three intensive training. Every day, twice a day among training,” he said.
Maunes admitted that their preparations did not come easy. They were faced with a lot of challenges that they had to overcome to get their team up and running.
“Injuries and work schedule sa team mao pinakalisud jud to meet. Also financial jud. Struggle jud kaayo,” he said.
(Injuries and our different work schedules were the most difficult hurdles that we had to overcome. Also our financial difficulties. It was a struggle for all of us.)
Maunes said they had to raise around P300,000 to P400, 000 from donations and from their own pockets to fund their travel to Hong Kong.
They were lucky that companies and groups like IMG, Kaiser Medical, Manila Bankers and MyTV helped pay for their plane tickets.
A total of 66 PADS paddlers will be leaving Cebu for Hong Kong on June 13.
Maunes said that they have also been training very hard to ensure another victory in this year’s race.
He said that the support that they have been getting from their families and friends was a big help for the team members to overcome all the difficulties that they had to face.
Left with barely a week before the competition, Maunes said that “there is no backing out for them now.” /dcb
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