After a four-year hiatus, the Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association (Caraa) Meet will make its return in Baguio City on April 29, 30, and May 1.
The six provinces and host Baguio have already mounted their qualifying events through the provincial meets to choose athletes for the various sport disciplines lined up for the Caraa.
Department of Education-Cordillera Information Officer Cyrille Miranda said the playing venues for the sporting events in the city and the billeting areas for the athletes are still being finalized.
Sports events approved by DepEd to be played in the district meet, provincial meet and regional meet are athletics, archery, arnis, badminton, billiard, chess, gymnastics, lawn tennis, table tennis, and swimming.
Group events include baseball, basketball, futsal, football, sepak takraw, softball, volleyball, and 3 on 3 basketball.
Contact sports such as boxing, penkak silat, Muay Thai, taekwondo, wrestling, wushu, and special games are also in the list of games for the regional meet.
Indigenous games like kadang-kadang and bunong braso with athletes in their indigenous attires were played in the provincial meets.
After the regional meet, there shall be a pre-qualifying event, which will be applied to team sports only as part of the new process put in place by the DepEd. Those that passed the screening will then be qualified to join the Palarong Pambansa.
The Cordillera placed ninth in the Palarong Pambansa in 2016 with 12 gold, 19 silver, and 15 bronze medals; sixth place in 2017 with 26-21-21 medals; fifth place in 2018 with 25-22-23 medals; and 10th place in 2019 with 14-13-24 medals.
This year’s Palarong Pambansa set on July 29 to Aug. 5 will be hosted for the first time by Marikina City. – Ofelia C. Empian
