Limpag: Assist from the team

I SAW the video report by the Cebu Provincial’s Capitol official publication regarding the “withdrawal” of the provincial’s participation in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (Cviraa) and came across an interesting comment. I didn’t read all—I don’t have the time for that—and some were snarky like “Mag-laag na lang mi kay sa mag sports” while one pointed out the province also has scholarship programs in response to lost opportunities.

The one I like was a simple line by a former athlete, “Kung wala’y Cviraa, nag-guna pa ko hantud karon.”

That speaks a lot to what the athletic meet means to athletes, one that those in Capitol may not have truly comprehended in this tug-of-war between the governor and the province’s Department of Education (DepEd) officials.

Track and field athletes, especially those from public schools in the province, only have the DepEd competition to look forward to every school year. Their private school counterparts in the city at least have the Cviraa and the Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) events to compete in aside from the DepEd meets. So, losing the opportunity to compete in the meet means a whole year wasted for them, and for a high school student that’s a great opportunity lost.

The report made it appear that the decision to withdraw from the Cviraa is final, but it’s good to know that’s not the case. The final decision lies with the DepEd Cebu Province Division, not with Capitol. The teachers are moving heavens and earth to make sure that they’d be represented in the regional meet. Without access to the province’s Special Education Fund, it’s going to take a unique approach and will have mini-provincial meets instead of a big one gathering all athletes.

Because of the unique setup of the DepEd tournament, where your rival in this rung may be the one that helps you win the gold in the next level, I hope DepEd Cebu City will offer a hand in staging some of the games since it’s the city that has the best sports venues in Cebu. I know some teachers or officials may be apprehensive getting in tangled with Capitol as officials there may see this as interference, but really this is merely city officials lending a hand to province officials since they will be all members of the Region 7 team in the Palarong Pambansa anyway. And helping stage a provincial meet means the best athletes from the province get to play in the Cviraa, which means the best possible Cviraa team can be formed.

Everybody happy.

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph