CEBU CITY, Philippines — It’s all systems go for the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA), which will have its opening ceremony tomorrow, Saturday, May 4, at the Festival Grounds of the South Road Properties (SRP) at 6:00 p.m.
The majority of the 12,000 expected delegates from the 20 school divisions around Central Visayas or Region 7 are expected to swarm the Festival Grounds in SRP for tomorrow’s opening ceremony.
It’s intended to hold the opening ceremony in the evening to protect the athletes from the extreme heat brought by the El Niño phenomenon.
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Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama will lead the opening ceremony tomorrow with his opening salvo message.
Also present will be the DepEd Cebu City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Nimfa Bongo, DepEd Region 7 Asst. Regional Director Fiel Almendra, DepEd Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo, and DepEd Region 7 Director Dr. Sal Jimenez.
According to Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) Chairman John Pages, they have already received most of the visiting delegations from other parts of the Central Visayas at their respective billeting centers.
This will be Cebu City’s first hosting of the CVIRAA after 10 years, which Pages cited as a ‘historic’ meet for the Cebu sports community.
“At this point, we are receiving many delegations. They’re arriving and occupying their respective billeting quarters. We’re looking forward to the opening at the SRP on Saturday. This is quite historic since it’s 10 years we’ve last hosted CVIRAA,” said Pages.
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He noted that CVIRAA would be crucial to their preparation for the Palarong Pambansa in July. This is the majority of the venues of CVIRAA will also be utilized for Palarong Pambansa.
“We will be having 12,000 athletes. This is a chance for us also to go through a very big event prior to the Palarong Pambansa. I’m sure we will learn a lot we’ll get from CVIRAA that equip us better for Palarong Pambansa two months after,” said Pages.
Palarong Pambansa gold medalist John Lexter Conde, who is also the team captain of the Don Bosco Technical College (DBTC) Greywolves football team, will do the oath of sportsmanship.
DepEd Regional Sports Officer Tomas Pastor will lead the oath of coaches and technical officials.
Also, Cebu City Councilor Dondon Hontiveros will lead the entrance of the CVIRAA banner.
Three venues for athletics
One of the most noticeable changes in Cebu City’s hosting of the CVIRAA is the separate venues for the track and field and athletics events.
The steeple chase and pole vault will be held at the Danao City track oval, while the track and field events will be held at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) oval in Mandaue City, while the throwing events will be at the CCSC field.
The three-venue athletics event is due to the ongoing major renovation of CCSC’s rubberized track oval intended for Cebu City’s hosting of the Palarong Pambansa.
Extra cautious
In addition, the CVIRAA officials will be extra cautious with its outdoor games to protect the student-athletes from the extreme heat of the sun.
No outdoor games will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. In fact, during its presser, Pages mentioned that they’re willing to start as early as 6:00 in the morning and even in the evening up to 8:00 p.m. for the meet’s outdoor games.