THOUSANDS of athletes comprising a total of 207 teams; 112 in elementary and 95 in secondary, see action as the 2016 Milo Little Olympics Mindanao opens Saturday, October 1, at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Sports Center in Cagayan de Oro City.
Event organizer Megdonio "Megs" Llamera, however, explained that while chess welcomes close to a hundred teams, the ballgame competitions were limited to just 16 teams to squeeze in the multifarious meet’s very hectic two-day schedules.
“In as far as the security measures is concerned, ready na usab atong kapulisan (our police are ready) with the active leadership of Police Superintendent Lemuel Gonda. Actually, taas ang increase karon sa number of participants mainly because lakip na sa regular events ang arnis ug karatedo,” Llamera told SunStar Cagayan de Oro.
Reigning elementary and secondary champions Corpus Christi Knights expect another stiff challenge from their public school counterparts as skirmishes in over a dozen sports disciplines go into full throttle in other playing venues around the city.
Misamis Oriental Governor Yevgeny Emano and Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno were both invited in Friday’s opening ceremony presided by Milo Sports Executive Andrew Neri and Department of Education-Cagayan de Oro Superintendent Cherry Mae Limbaco.
As usual, the centerpiece events in swimming and athletics will be held at Pelaez Sports Center including secondary tennis.
Other playing venues are MOGCHS for scrabble, Gusa Shuttle Square for badminton, Nazareth Lawn Tennis Club for elementary tennis (boys and girls),Westridge Sports Park for football, Xavier University High School-Pueblo for chess, Corpus Christi gym for taekwondo and gymnastics, XU Grade School-Macasandig for Sepak Takraw and Table Tennis, XU Main for secondary volleyball and basketball, Nazareth covered court for elementary basketball and Limketkai second floor for arnis and karatedo.