Various sporting experts and enthusiasts in the sports industry in Negros Oriental are mounting an aggressive strategy to promote sports tourism in the Province, and to ramp up opportunities for athletes and health buffs.
During a press launch on Monday, organizers of the PlanOut Sports & Fitness Festival set for September this year, said they will focus on 22 sporting activities, host 15 conferences on fitness, and exhibit over 100 products and services by local and national suppliers.
According to PlanOut founder Kim Joseph Llena, the main goals of their outdoor recreational services group are to promote community engagement, local tourism, and commerce.
“Since we have the technical skills here, we want to ensure the sustainability of the various sporting events that are organized, and hope to see the community benefitting from it,” Llena said.
The umbrella group PlanOut, established last year, is composed of top athletes and technical coaches in each sport, like UniGames founder Roger Banzuela.
“We want to continue the sports tradition of developing trust, respect, and genuine friendships,” said Banzuela, who is PlanOut director for Activities.
He lamented the usual holding of sporting events as tsamba-tsamba lang (only by chance/luck), like during elections when anybody conducts a inter-purok summer liga (basketball league).
Aside from giving the youth an opportunity to play and compete, he said we need to develop in them a genuine passion for the sport. “That is how the community can benefit from sports,” Banzuela said.
He also noted the lack of international standard sporting facilities/venues that can encourage the youth to focus on a sport.
“We need to develop a culture of sports, making sporting events a way of life,” Banzuela said, noting that patience will be needed in developing physical skills.
They also noted how sports tourism has taken a backseat in the past years, owing to a political divide, among other reasons.
“Usually, it is the provincial or local governments that take the lead in coming up with a sports program with a corresponding budget,” said Paultom Paras, president of the Negros Oriental Sports Federation, and sports management director of PlanOut.
He noted how sports programs tend to be less prioritized during a change in political leadership, thus depriving local athletes of opportunities to hone their skills.
He said this private sector-led sports festival to be held here every weekend from Sept. 1 to 29 expects hundreds of athletes from across the country.
The events (and their heads) are arnis (Ike Villaflores), badminton, basketball, chess, cycling (Dondee Señeris II), darts (Marvin Mapua); functional training, kettlebell and physical fitness (Archie Nellas); karatedo, mountain biking (Pierce Baylon), pickleball (Bernabe Bustillo), roundnet (Maikela Marcene Solomon), running (Paultom Paras), softball, table tennis, ultimate frisbee, urban camping (Urias Bebe), volleyball (Roger Banzuela), wall climbing and Zumba.
The PlanOut Sports & Fitness Festival will also feature conferences with invited experts from Australia, the United States, and Manila.
Exhibitions will provide means for businesses specializing in sports and fitness to showcase their products and services and expand markets. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA & IFBP)
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Photo Caption: PlanOut’s Archie Nellas, Paultom Paras, Kim Llena and Roger Banzuela announce about the PlanOut Sports & Fitness Festival slated in September.
