VISAYAS delegation head Ricky Ballesteros said his team is locked and loaded for the three-day National Milo Little Olympics here in Cebu City n Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
Ballesteros, the man behind the successful hosting of the national meet’s inaugural year in Cebu City last 2009, said all the athletes and officials of the Visayas are ready to try to dethrone the National Capital Region despite the hardships that the region faced in the past two months.
“We had a meeting with the coaches and the tournament managers last Saturday and I think we are ready for the national finals,” Ballesteros said.
The Visayas was rocked by a 7.2-magnitutde earthquake last Oct. 15 that damaged most of Bohol and parts of Cebu. Barely a month later on Nov. 8, the Visayas, particularly the eastern part, got rammed by a supertyphoon, causing havoc in Leyte province and northern Cebu.
But Ballesteros said athletes from affected areas such as Bohol, Bacolod, Iloilo, Roxas and Capiz are safe and ready to compete. The National Finals was moved from Oct. 25 to 27 to Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 because of the recurring tremors and the damage caused by supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
The rescheduling of the national finals somehow dragged a positive impact on the qualified teams and athletes representing team Visayas because it gave them more time to prepare.
After the Milo tournament, the rest of team Visayas will take their much-needed Christmas vacation. They will return to action in February 2014 for the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) also here in Cebu City.