The City Sports Development Division (CSDD) on Thursday commended all 568 Davao City delegates to the Philippine National Games and Batang Pinoy sports competitions of the Philippine Sports Commission last December.
The performance of 220 delegates to the Philippine National Games and the 348 young athletes who participated in the Batang Pinoy placed Davao City in fourth and third place, respectively.
The Philippine National Games was participated in by 95 local government units from all over the country, while Batang Pinoy was participated in by 192.
Dabawenyo athletes bagged 24 gold, 30 silver and 22 bronze medals in the Philippine National Games; while the Batang Pinoy under-15 representatives raked in 47 gold, 50 silver and 39 bronze medals.
City Sports Development Division Chief Mikey Aportadera said the delegates’ performance in both games had been as impressive as it was unexpected.
“I’m very surprised sa kaning performance sa atong mga atleta, both the Philippine National Team and Batang Pinoy. Ang atoang na-achieve na rankings was very suprising gyud ‘no. Our athletes did well, very well (I’m very surprised by the performance of our athletes, both the Philippine National Team and Batang Pinoy. The rankings we achieved are very surprising),” Aportadera said in an interview with the City Information Office.
Despite certain difficulties faced by the athletes in terms of preparing for the competition, Aportadera said he believes this had been compensated by the athletes’ pride as Dabawenyos and their love for the city.
“There is no other reason for them to excel except they’re really proud of being Dabawenyos,” he added.
Aportadera said he believes the city’s athletes will do just as well or even better in the next competitions.
Cash incentives from the local government will be awarded to the medalists, Aportadera added. CIO
