TO further boost the discovery of promising young sports talents, members of the national training pool have been excluded from participating in the Batang Pinoy National Games organized by the Philippine Sports Commission on Nov. 23 to 28 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
“To give budding athletes the opportunity na maipakita ang kanilang galing, the PSC has decided to exclude members of the national training pool from competing in the Batang Pinoy National Games,” said Annie Ruiz, co-head of the games yesterday during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the PSC conference room.
PSC executive director Paulo Tatad said this was agreed upon by the government sports agency’s board led by chairman Richard Bachmann, adding there will be 30 sports that will draw close to 12,000 athletes in the PSC’s flagship grassroots project.
Among the disciplines making a comeback is soft tennis while kurash and jiu-jitsu will be demo sports, according to Tatad.
“So far we have around 12,000 athletes from 177 local government units who will participate in the Batang Pinoy National Games,” said Tatad, the project director of the meet for 12 to 17-year-old campaigners.
Ruiz, who used to head the PSC’s department for National Sports Association Affairs, said they have adopted strict registration guidelines to avoid age-cheating and identity-switching of entries.
“We are proud of our strict registration guidelines and even tournament directors will be held responsible if any athlete is found violating them,” she said.
Both PSC officials were confident the Puerto Princesa City government led by Mayor Lucilo Bayron would be able to host the huge sports spectacle that comes on the heels of its successful staging of the ICF Dragon Boat World Championships.
“This (the staging of the BP National Games) is right along their alley,” noted Tatad, while Ruiz revealed that Puerto Princesa has already prepared 29 schools where the athletes and coaches will be quartered.
