The first Mindanao Children’s Games opened Thursday with 500 participating in the boys’ 3-on-3 basketball and girls’ volleyball events at the Almendras Gym in Davao City.
According to the Mindanao Children’s Games Secretariat, some 600 kids have also registered in the Larong Pinoy games, scheduled later in the afternoon.
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, gave an inspirational message during the opening ceremony that ushered in the three-day tournament, which is under the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Sports for Peace program.
“I started in sports when I was 11 years old. Nakabyahe ako sa Pilipinas at iba-ibang bansa, nakapag-aral, nagkatrabaho at natuto dahil sa sports (I traveled around the Philippines and other countries. I was able to study, work and learn because of sports),” said the Zamboanga City-based athlete, who gamely posed with the participants, aged 12 years and below, after her speech.
PSC chairman William Ramirez, who was also in Davao for the Barangay Sports Education Lecture Series, said that the true gold mine in sports are found not in high-level competitions but in “the children whose lives we touch and change through sports”.
Councilor Antonette Principe-Castrodes, who represented Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as keynote speaker, said sports is “a suitable diversion from delinquency”. The city government of Davao welcomed the PSC’s efforts to make sports available to the youth. (Jean T. Malanum/PNA)
