Secondary girls swimmers plunge into the CCSC pool during the Palarong Pambansa swimming competition. | CDN Digital photo / Christian Dave Cuizon
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) Chairman John Pages has pledged to focus on enhancing athlete performance in preparation for next year’s national meet, following Central Visayas’ commendable yet slightly disappointing fifth-place finish in Palarong Pambansa 2024.
Despite hosting the prestigious Palaro, Central Visayas struggled to maintain its fourth-place position throughout the competition, eventually settling for fifth in the final medal standings.
This outcome, while surpassing their 2023 medal tally with a total of 110 medals (29 gold, 42 silver, and 39 bronze), prompted Pages and the CCSC to reassess and strengthen their approach.
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“We have to look at where we can improve in terms of our athletes and how we can perform better for next year’s Palaro. That’s our goal now,” said Pages.
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Pages gave emphasis on team sports, particularly volleyball, football, futsal, and basketball, where Central Visayas had hoped to leverage homecourt advantage without achieving the desired results against formidable opponents.
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“We will focus particularly on the ball games, our volleyball, football, futsal, basketball, we were hoping that our homecourt advantage would workout, but unfortunately it didn’t. Of course the other teams were very strong,” Pages said.
“I hope this gives us extra incentive to prepare even better, because the other teams are better and strong. Hopefully we can reach the third or further in the next Palarong Pambansa. That’s why we have to go back to the drawing board and see how else we can improve, particularly for the Cebu City athletes,” he added.
Cebu City athletes notably shone in dancesport, securing nine gold medals, while successes in other disciplines such as chess, boxing, and basketball.