ANGELES CITY -- Some 5,000 athletes from Central Luzon joined Tuesday the opening ceremonies of the Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association (CLRAA) hosted by the Angeles City government.
The grand opening ceremonies, themed “Discipline, teamwork and Excellence” and held at Bayanihan Park here, featured the parade of delegations coming from Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales and the cities of Cabanatuan, San Fernando, Angeles, Balanga, Malolos and Olongapo.
A highlight of the launch was the unfurling of the City Sports Stadium who’s groundbreaking and capsule-laying was done at Barangay Mining recently.
In his remarks, Mayor Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno urged the young athletes to look beyond victory in the competitions but in winning friends.
“Welcome to the City of Friendship. This is a glorious day for us all because we are giving importance to sports in making better citizens of you. It is a time for camaraderie and sowing the seeds of friendship. Friendships continue to shine even as your medals fade. It’s all about fair flay and winning more friends that you will have to look beyond the driving force of winning,” Nepomuceno said.
City Administrator Mark Allen Sison said the City Government has been all-out in support of the CLRAA and participating athletes.
He told Sun.Star Pampanga: “The City Government led by Mayor Nepomuceno is fully supporting the event in terms of allowances for our players, uniforms from head to toe plus their food and transportation. Of course the most important of these is the moral support.”
He said the CLRAA has boosted the city’s sports development program to lure away the youth from vices.
“This was supposed to be held by in Zambales but following the recent calamities that hit it, the Department of Education regional office 3 requested our Mayor to host it. That was just four weeks ago but we accepted the challenge and made the necessary preparations including peace and order, traffic and their living quarters which we had fumigated. We also made arrangements with private schools for the use of their facilities for the 10 major events to be held here,” said Sison.
He added that some games would be held in Malolos but majority of events would be hosted by the city.
Sison said that after the Palarong Pambansa in Tarlac, the City Government would bid to host it as the world class City Sports Stadium would be fully operational by then.
“By that time in 2013 the Palarong Pambansa would be back in Luzon after its Visayas-Mindanao tour. We would definitely bid for its hosting,” Sison concluded.