WVRAA hosting ‘generally successful’

Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday, May 7, that the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) meet hosted by the province was generally successful.

Lacson also said there is no negative feedback so far from the delegations from the different provinces in Western Visayas as far as the hosting, including the billeting of athletes, is concerned.

"It's very heartwarming. They said good things about our hosting. And with the opening rites, Negros, they said, has raised the bar. We've successfully hosted the WVRAA," Lacson said.

Meanwhile, Lacson said Negros Occidental needs to have more time to prepare for the next WVRAA meet if it aims to become champion again.

Lacson said he found out that Iloilo held their provincial meet as early as February so they have 45 days to train while in Negros, the gap between the provincial meet and the regional meet is just about two weeks.

"So we were not as ready as Iloilo was. It's a lesson learned that we schedule our Provincial Meet early," the governor said.

He said that he asked the school superintendent of Iloilo if they hired experts or coaches and he replied no.

"It's us only in the Department of Education. I think it's really the amount of time they gave to prepare for the regional meet that spelled the difference between Iloilo and Negros.  We should learn from that," he pointed out

"It tells us that you really need time to prepare. It cannot be on a short preparation," Lacson added.

Asked why Negros Occidental is just one delegation to the regional meet while in Central Visayas, all the cities with separate school divisions competed separately from that of their respective provinces, he replied that he wants Negros to represent as one. 

“I don't think that Bacolod and other cities should be different. We're representing Negros Occidental," he emphasized.

Lacson said he will seek clarification on why the province cannot send a team of selected players.

"I heard that in Iloilo, they have a selection that represented them," he said.

"I would like to congratulate the performance of our athletes especially those that won gold and qualify for the Palarong Pambansa. I'm just hoping that our athletes from Negros Occidental will be able to contribute gold for the region," Lacson said.

After the five-day competition, he said, “We are now one team representing Region 6. I'm confident that the athletes can really compete at the national level."

Lacson said they are studying the giving of incentives to athletes who won gold medals in the recent WVRAA.*