THE quality of athletes who will be competing in the upcoming Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) Meet 2019, which was recently rescheduled from February 24 to 29 to March 22 to 28, is vital in the composition of region's delegation to the Palarong Pambansa 2020 slated in Marikina City in May.
Montevista of Davao De Oro's hosting of the Davraa Meet 2020 is not the only prevailing concern but also the preparation of the athletes from the 11 participating Department of Education (Deped) divisions for the regional meet that serves as qualifying stage for the Palaro.
If Davraa aims to bounce back from its worse Palarong Pambansa finish in 2019, which was at 11th place, then the 11 delegations must have a no-nonsense training of their respective athletes to raise the level of competition in the regional qualifying, thereby, producing and sending only the best and finest Davraa contingent to Marikina.
A two-week in-house training won't do. If Davao City Athletic Association (Dcaa) pushes through with its quartering to start on February 19, the one-month focused preparation before the Davraa Meet 2020 could spell a big difference. Dcaa, after all, is the perennial Davraa champion. Thus, strengthening Dcaa athletes' training could also help improve Davraa's standing in the Palaro.
It can be recalled that Davraa slumped to 11th when Davao City hosted the school-based national sportsfest for elementary and secondary athletes with a medal haul of 13 golds, 22 silvers and 37 bronzes. In 2018, Davraa placed ninth in Vigan, Ilocos Sur; seventh in 2017 Antique Palaro; 10th in 2016 Albay Palaro; and ninth in 2015 Davao del Norte Palaro.
Hoping that the 11 Deped divisions and their counterpart local government units (LGUs) will put premium on athletes' training first and provide their basic needs (standard facilities and equipment to train in/with, competent coaches and trainers, sufficient meals, vitamins, decent billeting and sleeping quarters with clean toilets, potable water and stable electricity) before they hype about surpassing last year's Davraa's Palaro ranking, which unfortunately was what happened in 2019. Otherwise, it's just wishful thinking.
Again, the Davraa Meet 2020 is the qualifying for the Palaro, where the country's brightest and finest young athletes converge. It's not the venue to just "give chance to others".
With Davraa's common practice of 70-30 composition of a team, where 70 percent is from the champion team and the remaining 30 percent is from other teams, most likely it would be more disadvantageous than advantageous. But a Deped source said selection of Davraa athletes undergoes deliberation and sometimes there are exemptions to the 70-30 rule, which should be the case since jelling and chemistry is crucial for a team and just picking up top players from other delegations may not bode well for the Palaro-bound Davraa squad.
For team sports, the champion coach needs to have the prerogative to keep all his/her athletes for the Palaro or pick up potentials from other squads. He or she must not be forced to comply the 70-30 rule considering that the coach knows his/her team better than anybody else. Of course, let's give the coach the benefit that he/she would only bring the best team players in the nationals.
Individual events rarely have problems in selection of players since the champions, at times including runners-up, will advance to the Palaro based on their performances.
May Davraa learn from the past. Improving Palaro ranking should not just be all talk, it's time to get the job done.