IN A bid to narrow the gap in medal haul for the coming Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association meet next year, Benguet athletes are making early preparations hoping to challenge Baguio’s supremacy in the sports event.
Nestor Bolayo, Department of Education - Benguet assistant schools division superintendent, announced during the Kapihan with DepEd Cordillera their early build–up for next year’s sports meet.
“We have some kind of in-service trainings especially on the coaching and other demo sports. I hope this will help especially the preparation on the training of our athletes for this CARAA. And I know if we will be able to concentrate more on combative sports, we can increase gold harvest,” added Bolayo.
The Province of Apayao is set to host the 2019 meet which gathers close to 5,000 athletes and officials from five other provinces and one city.
Apayao first hosted Caraa in 2013 and hopes to duplicate the success of hosting the regional meet with its newly-constructed BGV Memorial Sports Center that includes an Olympic size swimming pool.
Baguio City remains the heavy favorite as it continue to lord the annual regional meet after securing 222 gold medals,102 silver and 61 bronze medals, followed by Benguet in second place and Ifugao in third.
Meanwhile, a letter of intent was already submitted by Benguet province for the hosting of CARAA in 2020.
Marie Carol Verano, Dep-Ed Benguet Schools Division superintendent, stated the engineering department has prioritized construction of toilets, the repair of school buildings and preparation of the grounds.
“During our meetings we always discuss with our LGU we are actually preparing being the host for 2020 as we are also improving our facilities not only for CARAA but for athletic meets and other conditions where we can also host activities not only sports,” Verano said, while expressing optimism of Baguio City’s aid in the hosting of CARAA 2020.