Hayco to share successful sports programs to LGUs

The Cebu City grassroots sports program will be at the spotlight today as it will be presented during the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Sports Summit at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Edward Hayco will be sharing Cebu’s successful grassroots sports program to a gathering of sports heads coming from 1,000 local government units from all over the country. He was chosen as the guest speaker for today’s event.

Hayco, together with his wife Eleanor, helped produce multi-titled dancesports athletes through a 10-year grassroots program and helped boost the sport of chess also through the program.

Hayco said he was asked to make a presentation for the summit after Cebu City was named as having the most successful grassroots programs in the entire country.

PSC chairman Ricardo “Ritchie” Garcia was convinced that the Cebu City grassroots sports program should be adapted in the entire country after he witness the program’s success when he came to visit last year.

Hayco said that their presentation will start with a video presentation of dancesports and chess, a product of the grassroots program which made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest dance class and the biggest chess tournament, respectively.

Also to be included in the video are the rest of the sports being promoted under the grassroots program.

The Cebu City grassroots sports program has two catch phrases— “Transforming Youth Through Sports” and “Nation Building Through Value-Laden Grassroots Program.”

Aside from the video presentation, Hayco said he also prepared a power point presentation of a step-by-step implementation of a grassroots sports program.

According to Hayco, the program can be a daunting task but he would encourage the participants by telling them a story of how they have transformed the lives of children through the grassroots program.

“We’ve have kids who used to be gang members, drug dependent, scavengers, or kids who have to walk to school or those whose parents have disabilities. I’d like to show them how we transformed the lives of these kids by making them believe in themselves through sports.

According to Hayco, with the help of the Cebu City government, private sectors and volunteer athletes and teachers, they were able to help these aspiring kids.

The Cebu City Grassroots Sports Program started two years ago. From about 100 kids, it now has 15,000 being trained in various sports.

The program also started with dancesports and now has grown to include boxing, taekwondo, table tennis, chess, volleyball, arnis, badminton, athletics and basketball.

This summer, it will intensify training on softball, baseball, flag football, rugby and sepak takraw.