Davao City will field a powerhouse delegation of 713 athletes in the Batang Pinoy 2025 set on October 25–31 in General Santos City.
With Dabawenyos competing in 26 sports, the city aims to improve its ranking in the medal tally after finishing fourth overall last year.
Sports Development Division of the City Mayor’s Office officer-in-charge, Mikey Aportadera, said the team will travel together on September 23, riding 13 buses and 16 vans.
“Hopefully, we could get a notch higher this year,” he said in a media interview on the sidelines of the Sports Heroes Awards Night held at The Royal Mandaya Hotel Sunday night, September 28, 2025. “But I don’t want to put pressure on the athletes. I just want them to enjoy it and perform the way they have trained. The advantage is that the venue is closer, so they’ll feel more confident competing.”
The Batang Pinoy serves as the country’s national youth sports competition for athletes aged 18 years old and under. Unlike the Palarong Pambansa, which is exclusive to student-athletes, Batang Pinoy also opens the door to out-of-school youth, making it a broader grassroots program.
Established through Executive Order No. 44 signed by then-President Joseph Estrada in 1998, the tournament continues to be a training ground for the nation’s next generation of sports stars.
This year’s edition will feature 27 events: swimming, archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, basketball (3x3), boxing, chess, cycling, dancesport, futsal, gymnastics, jiu-jitsu, judo, kickboxing, karate, muay, pencak silat, sepak takraw, soft tennis, tennis, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, and wushu.
To further support the athletes, Aportadera said the city has prepared new sets of uniforms and sustained its annual incentive program for medalists. “We have to make sure that all games are done within the year so we can award them with incentives by the next year,” he explained.
Looking back at last year, Davao City bagged 39 gold, 44 silver, and 37 bronze medals in the 2024 Batang Pinoy held in Puerto Princesa City. Meanwhile, Pasig City, which topped the medal tally with 105 golds, 64 silvers, and 116 bronzes, enters this year’s games as the defending champion. MLSA