City eyes Batang Pinoy title retention

SOME 170 athletes in the different sports discipline open their title retention bid as the Northern Luzon leg of the 2012 Philippine Olympic Committee-Philippine Sports Commission (POC-PSC) Batang Pinoy Games kick off today.

Baguio City will try to make a repeat of its dominance after winning the overall crown last year in the four day event which opens at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center in Lingayen town, Pangasinan province and will close on October 13.

Promising athletes aged 15 years old and below will flaunt their skills in the meet where 12 sports disciplines offer qualifying slots for the national championship at the end of the year.

“Mataas ang morale ng mga bata ngayun kaya pipilitin nating makuha yung overall title,” said city sports coordinator Gaundecio Gonzalez.

Despite the high morale, Gonzalez said they expect a tough contest this year with host Pangasinan and La Union seen to challenge Baguio’s run in the over-all supremacy.

“We’re looking at athletics, swimming, tae kwon do, and arnis as of our gold medal sources during the competition,” added Gonzalez.

Pangasinan will bring in 300 athletes apart from separate delegations from Alaminos and Dagupan. Participants from Bulacan, Pampanga, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya and Ilocos are expected to challenge the host province for supremacy.

Governor Amado Espino Jr. will welcome the athletes in a brief opening ceremony at 4 p.m. following the solidarity meeting in the morning among tournament officials and organizers and a refresher course on October 8.

The POC-PSC Batang Pinoy Games launched its talent discovery program in Marikina City last month with the best and brightest athletes in each of the five legs competing in the national championship in Iloilo City on December 5-8.

Oriental Mindoro will host the Southern Luzon qualifying on October 24-27, the Mindanao leg will be held in Cagayan De Oro City on November 7-10, and Tacloban City, Leyte province is the host for the Visayas qualifier on November 21-24.

Medal winners in the national championship of the POC-PSC Batang Pinoy Games are bound to earn slots in the national developmental pool. They could eventually represent the country in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

Athletics and badminton will be played at NRSCC, arnis at Pangasinan State University, boxing at Lingayen plaza, taekwondo at Pangasinan training and development center, table tennis at alley building, chess at Pangasinan provincial library, baseball at Capitol beach front, cycling on Maramba Blvd. while swimming will be held in Dagupan City.