Dumaguete is making history as the first local government unit (LGU) in the country to host an international beach handball competition participated in by three Asian countries, namely, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
The statement was issued by Coach Nabeel Alsheheb of the International Asian Handball Federation who graced the opening ceremonies Friday of the four-day first beach handball competition at its venue at the Rizal Boulevard.
He stressed that Dumaguete City is purposely chosen by the federation as the venue because officials see a lot of efforts by the local government unit and upon knowing their capability, willingness of the people, private and government sector to host these attractive games which is an Olympic sports.
With this experience, Coach Nabeel said the Asian Federation would want the Philippines in general and Dumaguete in particular to hold bigger events in the future. While the opening games were played, Coach Nabeel considered the hosting a great success with six teams for starters.
The federation was hoping other countries can join like Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia, but due to time constraints the rest of the teams begged off.
The athletic competition is being supervised by the Asian Federation through the Philippine Beach Handball Association in cooperation with the Dumaguete City government, headed by Mayor Felipe Remollo.
He is pushing Mayor Remollo to participate in the bidding to host the 2019 beach handball competition spearheaded by the Asian Federation.
is looking forward to hosting the event because by that time, more hotels, and condominiums would have been constructed to comply with the requirements for accommodation. It is not much for the venue, because the beach area is given and can be expanded with materials coming from the Banica River.
This is part of his ultimate vision of the mayor to transform Dumaguete as the capital for beach games with at least four or five beach ball games to be conducted every year, to include beach frisbee, beach sepak takraw, beach volleyball, beach soccer and even beach basketball.
This will not only impact on the local economy but also boost the tourism industry of the city. At the same time prevent the youth from indulging into illegal drugs and other form of vices.
Remollo believes when the youth is busy with sports there’s no need for Oplan Tokhang or Double Barrel because proactively, the city is making them busy in sports.
Under his administration, Remollo said hosting sporting events is not only addressing the economy and tourism potentials of the city but also on the wellness of its people for a healthy citizenry that will redound to a healthy governance. (Juancho Gallarde/PNA)
