AFTER representing their respective schools and units in the 26th Cebu City Olympics, the top athletes from Cebu City will now suit up for the Cebu City Niños in the Batang Pinoy National Finals on Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 in Tagum City.
The 315-member Cebu City delegation will leave for Tagum City on Nov. 24. The squad will have about 160 competing athletes, most of them gold medalists during the Cebu City Olympics, which concluded last weekend.
Danny Villagracia of Cebu City Sports Commission told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday that the team will be competing in all but six events.
“There are 26 events for the Batang Pinoy National Finals. We will be joining in 20 events. The sporting events that we don’t have participants are gymnastics, wushu, rugby, judo, baseball and wrestling,” he said.
Cebu City sports coordinator Zenaida Gocotano said in a separate interview that not all winners are going to the Batang Pinoy National Finals since there are events in the Cebu City Olympics that are not in the Batang Pinoy.
The events that will be participated by the Niños are archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, chess, cycling, dancesports, karatedo, lawn tennis, pencak silat, sepak takraw, softball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball and weightlifting.
Villagracia said that the budget for the Cebu City delegation is about P3 million, covering the uniform, transportation and the competition/meal allowance of the participants.
The team will travel via boat from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro City on Nov. 24, and will take the bus trip going to Tagum City.
Cebu City finished third overall in last year’s edition, which was held in different playing venues in Cebu.