All six DepEd Divisions of the province of Negros Oriental combined could not even beat the overall 2nd place finisher in the recently-concluded Palarong NIR 2017 or the Negros Island Regional Athletic Meet.
Yes, you can simply add up all the 229 medals won by the overall 2nd placer, the Division of Negros Occidental, and compare it with the dismal and humiliating performace of 216 medals won by the entire province of Negros which is composed of six Divisions.
And further up, a long way off is Bacolod City as overall champion, with a total of 327 medals.
The highest medal count among the six Divisions of Negros Oriental was garnered by Dumaguete City, with exactly 100 medals, placing them 4th overall.
Next is the Division of Negros Oriental with a total of 62 medals, ranked 9th overall.
Dumaguete garnered 25 gold medals, while Negros Oriental only won seven gold medals. The other four Divisions of the Province placed in the bottom five among all Divisions.
More bad news in Athletics.
In the elementary division, it was mostly Bacolod and Negros Ocidental raking in most of the medals.
In the high school category, there were some bright spots. Only the Dumaguete contingent earned some medals. Three students from the Presbyterian Theological School won four medals:
Ann Quitoy earned a gold in the Javelin throw, and advances to the Palaro to be held in Antique next month.
Marjorie Uy took two silver medals and also advances to the Palaro. She had her best performance in the long jump and triple jump, and her distances would have put her in medal contention in last year’s Palaro in Albay.
Reyshel Queding took a bronze medal in the 1500 meter run.
Over in the boy’s secondary athletics, Philip Ortega of Negros Oriental High School took a gold medal in the 110 hurdles, and a silver medal in the 400 meter run, thus advancing to the Palaro.
So among the six Negros Oriental divisions in the sport of athletics for both elementary and secondary, we earned a total of five gold medals, seven silver medals, and three bronze medals.
Now the big question: How do we move on to the Palaro from this dismal performance?
Surely, much blame and finger-pointing will be spread around, but a comprehensive sports developmental program needs to be put into place.
As I have written in this column time and time again, the Philippine Senate has formed a body to look into the dismal state of Philippine sports.
In my next column, I will share with you some insights on how to proceed after eight years of involvement in local, regional, and national sports.
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Author’s email: HealthAssist@hotmail.com
