Baguio City – The City sent about 380 athletes and coaches to the Luzon qualifying leg of the Batang Pinoy sports competition which started running last March 16 this year and ends on the 23rd in Ilagan City, the capital of Isabela Province.
City Sports Development Officer Gaudencio Gonzales is hoping that Baguio athletes will defend its qualifying leg championship title from the 2017 as well as the national finals held last year. He said Baguio continues to reign the Batang Pinoy competition by banking on combative sports, particularly in arnis, taekwando and archery.
The City Government has earmarked over Php1.5 million for the allowance, transportation and uniform of the delegates, slightly higher compared to the funding in the past years pegged at Php1.3 million.
The most recent Batang Pinoy Luzon qualifying leg was held in 2017 held at the historic city of Vigan where Baguio bagged the championship crown with 44 gold, 45 silvers and 41 bronze medals.
In 2018, Baguio City and Benguet hosted the national finals where Baguio emerged as the overall winner for the second straight year. reaping the overall crown with 85 gold, 81 silvers and 107 bronze medals.
Batang Pinoy is a multi-purpose sports competition for Filipino youth aged 15 years old and below that started in 1998, backed by the participating local government units and the Philippine Sports Commission.
“The program serves as a recruitment base for sports specialization and training for high level leagues, national tournaments and international competitions,” Gonzales said.
Games included in the qualifying legs are: archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, chess, dance sport, futsal, karatedo, lawn tennis, pencak silat, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball.
Meantime, the national finals will include cycling, gymnastics, judo, billiards, muaythai, rugby football, triathlon, soft tennis, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu. By Jessa Mardy P. Samidan
