WITH THE Visayas Regional Finals set to be held in Iloilo City, Team Visayas delegation head Ricky Ballesteros expects more Ilonggos to make it to the roster of the team.
The organizing committee of one of the longest running school-based multi-sporting event in the country recently moved the Visayas Regional finals in Iloilo City to October and Ballesteros thinks this gives Ilonggos a better chance to make it to the Visayas team that is hoping to reclaim the National title from the National Capital Region (NCR).
This will be the first time the regional finals will be held in Iloilo as Cebu has played host for the past 19 years. Winners in the regionals will make up the core that will represent the Visayas in the National Finals slated in November in Cagayan de Oro City.
During an ocular inspection in Iloilo earlier this week, Ballesteros said he is confident that Ilonggos will put up impressive performances in the regionals, especially in the sport of football.
“Region VI’s secondary football team was beaten by Iloilo in the Palarong Pambansa and the Ilonggos are known to be very strong in this sport so we expect a great competition in the regional finals and I hope the Ilonggos can help Team Visayas get back on top,” Ballesteros said.
Ballesteros also said the Ilonggos are favored in track-and-field events.
However, Ballesteros said the University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department (USC-BED) will likely top the standings in the regionals because Ilonggos are not strong in all 13 sporting events of the regional finals. He said Cebu-based teams are still the teams to beat, especially in ball games like basketball, volleyball and football, and also in swimming.
Meanwhile, Ballesteros, who will still be the head organizer of the Visayas regional finals, expressed his gratitude to the local government unit of Iloilo City and the Department of Education (DepEd) office for their support for the event.
He also said they already found an alternative venue for the medal-rich track-and-field event since the Iloilo City Sports Center’s track oval will undergo renovation and possibly won’t be completed until October.