Ateneo de Cebu stages forum for parents of student athletes

Cebu City, Philippines—The Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Parents-Teachers Association will stage a one-of-a-kind forum for parents whose kids are engaged in sports on Saturday, August 17, 2019, 8 a.m. at the Virginia Chiongbian Theater inside the SHS-Ateneo de Cebu campus in Canduman, Mandaue City.

The forum, called Parents in Sports: One Big Fight, (Chill Lang Diha, A Forum For Sports Parents), is geared towards educating parents with information that would better equip them to handle and support their children.

“The forum comes after an initial round of workshops with our parents. We recognize the importance of parents in sports and we are working together with them to strengthen the community,” said Rico Navarro, the school’s athletic director who will also function as one of the speakers during the event.

Also set to share their thoughts during the gathering are SHS-Ateneo de Cebu president, Fr. Manny Uy, S.J. as well as Joy Diamante and Noli Ayo from Ateneo de Davao University.

Diamante is a mother to four talented student-athletes. His first three children – Gio, Geo and Jed, all played grade school and high school football varsity for Ateneo de Davao. 

Entering college, all three boys pursued college education in De La Salle University. Both Gio and Gelo played five years in the UAAP and both were team captains during their time with the green and white. Jed is currently DLSU’s team captain and is entering his final UAAP season next year. 

Her youngest, Jelli, is currently the President of the ADDU Student Council and a member of the school’s football and futsal teams. 

All four children played in the national team and in all those years were consistent honor student students. Last year, his youngest son, while being the co-captain of DLSU’s football team, was also recognized as the most outstanding Civil Engineering student of Metro Manila.

Ayo is currently the athletic director of ADDU. As the sports leader of one of Mindanao’s biggest and influential universities, Ayo was given the task of organizing the Mindanao Peace Games, an association of 16 colleges and universities representing the 6 regions of Mindanao including the BARMM. 

Since 2014, the Mindanao Peace Games has influenced and impacted the lives of more than 4,000 athletes and coaches through their annual programs that include – Coaches Forums, Leadership Programs for Athletes, Out of the Country Trips for Sports Directors and the annual Peace Games held in Cagayan de Oro (2015), General Santos (2016), Davao (2017) and Butuan (2018). 

This year, the annual Peace Games will be held in Zamboanga City that is expected to gather more than 600 athletes and coaches. /bmjo