DAVRAA Eagles aim to finish strong in 2015 Palaro
By CHARLES RAYMOND A. MAXEY and ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
The Davao Eagles are aiming to improve on their performance last year with a fifth place finish in this year’s edition of the Palarong Pambansa which fires off May 3 to 9 in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
“If we finish in the top five, I would be very, very happy,” Gov. Rodolfo R. del Rosario of the host province said in last Friday’s Hermes Club media forum at Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao.
The Eagles placed eight in last year’s Palaro in Laguna to rebound from a dismal showing the previous year where they finished only 11th from out of the 17 regions competing.
They hope to come up with a much better performance this year while playing on home turf, but the Department of Education (Deped) 11 said the athletes must give it their best performance if they are to achieve their goal.
“We are moving heaven and earth just to reach that (fifth place finish),” Deped 11 spokesperson Jenielito Atillo told Edge Davao. “But, we really have to push hard.”
Atillo said the Davao athletes are already in Tagum as early as April 6 to prepare for this year’s sporting battle.
By the time the Palaro opens in May 3, they have already completed a 27-day rigid training session under the watchful eyes of their coaches, according to Atillo.
Del Rosario assured the province is now more than ready to stage the Palaro, the country’s biggest sporting competition for elementary and secondary athletes.
“We, in Davao del Norte, are ready for the Palarong Pambansa,” he said.
The governor said the security plan is already in place for the event, which is expected to draw more than 10,000 athletes, coaches, officials and spectators.
The grand opening ceremony will be held on May 4, but advance games will commence on May 3.
Davao won the overall title in the 2003 Palaro in Tubod, Lanao del Norte but the heavyweights like the National Capital Region and Western Visayas begged off from the event because of security reasons.
