Cebu City inspires as model grassroots sports program

On one hand, dancesport has put Cebu City on the map in national and international competitions.

On the other, chess is quickly drawing thousands of children to learn the board game.

Both rely on a mix of volunteer coaches, strong private sector support and minimal government funding.

Cebu City was held up as a model grassroots sports program and inspired other provinces and cities in last week’s Philippine Sports commission (PSC) sports summit at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Metro Manila.

Edward Hayco, chairman of the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC), presented  the city’s 10-year dancesport program and the newer offering of chess to reach youths in the barangays.

Many in the audience were amazed at how much was accomplished with so little.

At the end of his talk, sports coordinators from different provinces couldn’t wait to approach Hayco and his team to ask how they pulled it off. They vowed to visit Cebu to see for themselves.

“We taught 30,000 kids in dancesport; 43,000 kids in chess; 10,000 kids in our other sports. That’s a total of 83,000 kids who got free training,” said Hayco at the end of his speech.

“If we were to put a cost to this, at P2,000 per training for 20 sessions, competition, social impact, the volunteer program involving a total of 1,000 volunteer teachers is 83,000 kids multiplied by P2,000, that is P160 million, but we did it for free.”

Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said the merit of the program was shown in the partnership that exists despite conflicts in local politics to achieve a single goal.

Robredo asked Hayco: “Na-iipit ba kayo sa dalawang grupo?”

Hayco repolied, “No, sir, because both parties are supportive of the program.”

Education Secretary Armin Luistro asked Hayco if the Department of Education (DepEd) could adapt the program for its own plans of integrating grassroots sports development in the schools.

Luistro missed the presentation but read the primer of Cebu City’s program.

“I saw that the program is very comprehensive. We (DepEd) have been looking for models like this for us to adapt,” Luistro said.

Hayco presented the program with the help of  CCSC executive director Brando Velasquez, CCSC commissioner Danilo Villadolid and CCSC commissioner in-charge for grassroots Bernard Ricablanca, who is also the athletic director of the University of Cebu.

It was the last presentation of the Summit, but the day’s most dramatic one.

It energized an audience that was already lethargic at the close of the summit.

The timing could not have been better. The Cebu City Grassroots Sports Program provided answers to most of the questions raised in earlier sessions during the day – lack of funding, human resources and trained coaches to pull off a good grassroots development program.

Hayco started with a three-minute video of the 10-year-old  dancesports program and another three-minute video of the newer program of chess.

Both sports are putting Cebu City in the Guinness World Book of Records.  The city was certified for mounting the biggest outdoor dance class with 7,770 participants in 2007 and is being evaluated for mounting the biggest chess tournament with 43,000 participants last year.

What struck the audience was Hayco’s statement that the Guinness World Record was not the goal but just an opportunity that came along.

“If that was our goal, we could have stopped at 3,000 participants but we went on and reached more than 7,000,” Hayco said.

Compostela Valley sports coordinator Rommel Garcia said he was amazed that Cebu City achieved the world record twice even though it wasn’t the goal of the program.

He asked for a copy of the primer, which outlines steps on how to organize the program.

“I will present this to our mayor (primer) because this is exactly what we need. We appreciate this very much,” said Garcia, who vowed to visit Cebu with their mayor.

He said Hayco was right about DepEd’s role in helping roll out  the program.

Florentino Perez of South Cotabato was impressed by how Cebu City found private sector support for sports.

“I want to know how they did it.  Maganda yong pagkakalink n’yo ng inyong volunteers at sponsors,” Perez said.

Marikina Sports Center administrator Angelito A. Llabres said he found this a good model.

“In just two years, they’ve trained so many sa murang halaga, ang tipid. The initial results are very promising, and the program is receiving a lot of support from many sectors,” said Llabres.