Athletes from all over the region will see action in various disciplines during the 2023 Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association Meet in Baguio City on April 29, 30 and May 1.
The regional sports meet themed “Pagbubuklod tungo sa matatag, maginhawa, panatag at makabatang bansa” will have its opening parade from Upper Session Road on April 29 followed by a program at the Melvin Jones football field.
DepEd-CAR Director Estela Cariño said this year’s sports meet will conduct select focus sports which were based on the region’s Palarong Pambansa performance in the past three years including athletics, archery, arnis, billiards, chess, gymnastics, lawn tennis, and swimming.
Also included in contact sports are boxing, taekwondo, wrestling, wushu as well as special sports events like para-athletics, and para-swimming.
For athletes joining archery, swimming and athletics, only those who will meet the national qualifying standards during the Caraa will compete in the Palarong Pambansa.
This is in line with the guidelines set by the DepEd for the conduct of a modified competition format for the Palarong Pambansa 2023.
Cariño also reminded all delegates to comply with DepEd’s policy on healthy food and beverage choices in schools and in DepEd Offices.
“All delegations shall promote healthy eating habits by making available healthy and nutritious food and beverages during the Caraa 2023,” she stated.
Also, the division schools offices are expected to supervise learning interventions to their respective athletes by any available means of learning modalities to compensate for missed lessons.
In 2019, the region placed 10th in the Palarong Pambansa with 14 gold,13 silver and 24 bronze medals, which was a slight dismal performance compared to a fifth place finish in 2018 with 25-22-23 medal haul.
This year’s Palarong Pambansa will be held in Marikina City, a first-time host, from July 29 to Aug. 5.
The national sporting event will gather all 17 regions, which was last held in Davao City from April to May 2019. – Ofelia C. Empian
