Eastern Visayas athletes determined to compete in Palaro

A BIG THANK YOU. Athletes from Eastern Visayas (Region 8) carry a streamer with a message of thanks for the help they received after supertyphoon Yolanda battered their region.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON

Sta. Cruz, Laguna—Inadequate training facilities, scarce funds and not having enough time to prepare for this year’s Palarong Pambansa.

The Eastern Visayas Athletic Association (EVRAA) faced these difficulties and yet chose to slug it out with 16 other regions in the annual sporting event.

Tonisito Umali, Asst. Secretary of the Department of Education, specially mentioned Region 8 in his speech in last Saturday’s solidarity meeting at the Laguna Sports Complex main Gymnasium.

“Typhoon Yolanda caused massive destruction in Region 8 and the delegation initially begged off from competing in the Palaro. But we encouraged them to join to show that the people in Region 8 are already back on their feet. We wanted them to join to show the resiliency the Filipinos are known for,” Umali said.

Preparing for the Palaro wasn’t easy, said Karl Chan, coach of the secondary girls volleyball team.

“Training facilities were damaged by the typhoon so we had to find open spaces for us to have training venues. The region initially declined to join due to budget constraint,” Chan said.

EVRAA managed to send more than 500 athletes and is competing in all of the 20 sporting events. For lack of funds, Region 8 decided not to hold a regional meet, a qualifying tournament for the Palaro.

The budget intended for the regional meet was instead used for the region’s campaign in the Palaro.

“We just decided to retain the athletes who competed in last year’s Palaro. Since some already graduated, it was left to the discretion of the coaches who to select for their teams,” Chan said.

The Region 8 athletes are competing in the Palaro not only to win games.

“Some of the athletes lost their relatives in the disaster. Taking part in the Palaro, somehow takes their minds off the tragedy. Competing is also a way of stress debriefing,” said Chan.

Region 8 has been one of the perennial cellar-dwellers in the annual meet. In last year’s Palaro in Dumaguete City, Region 8 was one of two regions among the 17 contingents who failed to win a single gold medal and ended up finishing dead last with six silvers and eight bronzes.

Despite their poor performance, the EVRAA athletes aren’t quitting. “We are in the Palaro to show we are ready to rise from the tragedy. Life isn’t fully back to normal yet but at least we are showing that we are not giving up,” said Wilbut Dalton, coach of the volleyball elementary boys.