Fewer delegates drafted for 2014 Batang Pinoy Luzon
BAGUIO City will need to focus in bagging more gold medals if it wants to retain its overall crown in the 2014 Batang Pinoy Luzon Leg this coming November 11-15 in Naga City.
With travel expense as an issue, the Summer Capital will need to set up a better outing as fewer athletes will be brought for the competition.
City Sports Coordinator Gaudencio Gonzales said the city will be faced with a steeper contest when the Luzon leg of Batang Pinoy kicks off.
"The scheduled venue was reassigned to Naga City, which is the furthest area of Luzon. In this case I guess we shall be conveying a delegation smaller than what we previously expected," Gonzales said.
Gonzales said the city might cut off on the number of athletes since the previously allotted budget will not support all the delegates.
"Biglang nagbago kasi ang venue, kung sana land travel lang ang kakailanganin pwedeng tulad rin ng mga previous years ang dadalhin nating delegation doon but with an additional expense sa airfare we really need to adjust," said Gonzales.
“Anyway we still have four months to prepare bukod sa gagawing rigid ang screening ng mga athletes baka yung mga competitions na masyadong marami ang participants ang babawasan. Hopefully kahit konti magawa nating mag-overall just the same,” Gonzales added.
According to Gonzales, the city might cut the delegation nto 150 athletes including coaches instead of the initial target of more than 200.
Last year Baguio City, retained the Luzon overall title for the third straight time after outscoring erstwhile leader Quezon City in Iba, Zambales.
Baguio City tallied a total of 47 gold, 49 silvers, and 37 bronze, while Quezon City was toppled off the lead in the last day of the week-long contest with 44-28-35.
Earlier, Batang Pinoy Luzon leg was scheduled to be held in Cavite but the city announced last April to back-out as the host of the event.
According to Philippine Sports Commission Chief and lawyer Jay Alano the Cavite Sports and Youth Development resigned as the host city.
“They backed-out. Hindi daw nila kayang mag-host,” Alano said.
A total of 26 sport events are scheduled to be presented in Naga including seven sports, counted as national finals namely baseball, football, gymnastics-cheerdance, judo, muaythai, soft tenni and wushu.
Batang Pinoy 2014 Mindanao Leg will start September 10-14 in Zamboanga Del Sur, the Visayas Leg will unfurl in Kalibo, Aklan on October 24-26, while the National Championships will be held in Cebu City slated December 9-13.