Sports officials, coaches, and athletes participating in the Batang Pinoy have started arriving in Puerto Princesa City, this year’s host of the national finals for the youth sports competition for players under 15-years-old.
The delegation from the province of Pangasinan with 134 athletes and 49 coaches was the early bird, arriving on August 17, said Wednesday by City Tourism Office (CTO) senior operations officer and promotions marketing chief Michie Meneses.
As of August 21, Meneses said 19 delegations from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao composed of nearly 1,000 individuals already arrived. The figure is out of the 10,000 delegates, coaches, and other participants expected to arrive until Sunday, August 25.
Delegations that arrived were from Kidapawan, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao del Sur, Tagum City, Makati, Cebu, Valenzuela, Negros Occidental, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro.
The CTO was tasked by the city government to welcome the delegates.
“Kami ang assigned na sumalubong sa kanila. Hanggang Saturday night ay may sasalubungin kami and even sa Sunday ay may darating pa. Inaasahan natin ang pagdagsa ng mga bisita kasama na dyan ang mga coaches at mga magulang ng mga batang manlalaro,” she said.
Of the 10,000 delegates, Meneses said over 6,000 are athletes and 3,000 are coaches who will participate in 31 events of the Batang Pinoy.
These sports are archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, basketball, baseball, beach volleyball, billiards, boxing, chess, cycling, dance sports, futsal, gymnastics, judo, karatedo, lawn tennis, muay thai, pencak silat, sepak takraw, soft tennis, softball, swimming, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball, weight lifting, wrestling, wushu, and rugby football.
The athletes will be billeted in 16 schools, 10 of which are Sta. Monica Elementary School, Sta. Monica High School, F. Ubay Memorial Elementary School, Manuel Austria Memorial Elementary School, Sicsican Elementary School, Sicsican High School, Puerto Princesa Science High School, Palawan National School, Puerto Princesa Pilot Elementary School, and San Jose National High School.
The designated sports event areas, on the other hand, are Puerto Princesa Pilot Elementary School, Palawan National School, East Central School, San Pedro Central School,Tiniguiban Elementary School, San Miguel National High School, Sta. monica Elementary and High School, Francisco Ubay Memorial Elementary School, Manuel Austria Memorial Elementary School, San Jose National High School, Sicsican Elementary and High School, and Puerto Princesa City Science High School.
