DepEd moves CVIRAA meet

The Department of Education (DepEd) has decided to move the Central Visayas Regional Athletics Association (CVIRAA) meet from Dec. 1-6 to Dec. 14-18.

According to DepEd Cebu City Division sports coordinator and Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) commissioner Zenaida Gocotano, DepEd Region VII director Carmelita Dulangon and other DepEd regional heads conducted an executive conference last Wednesday to discuss the rescheduling of the annual multi-sporting meet for elementary and secondary athletes in the Visayas region.

Gocotano is pleased with the decision to reschedule the CVIRAA since it gives athletes enough time to prepare, especially after the National Milo Little Olympics was also moved to a later date due to safety concerns stemming from the recent 7.2-magnitude earthquake that rocked Cebu and Bohol last Oct. 15.

The Milo meet, also a competition for elementary and secondary athletes, was originally scheduled on Oct. 25 to 27 here in Cebu but was moved to Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 because of the recurring aftershocks that followed the Oct. 15 earthquake.

If the original schedule were to be followed, some athletes who had qualified for the Milo meet and the CVIRAA would be forced to play straight from Nov. 29, which is the start of the Milo event, to Dec. 6, the end date of the CVIRAA.

“I am very happy with their decision because it will buy the athletes and teams more time to prepare,” Gocotano said.

With this development, Gocotano also extended the deadline for the submission of athletes’ credentials for the Cebu City Olympics from Oct. 26 to Nov. 4.

Gocotano estimated that 60 percent of the entire participants for the Nov. 6-10 Cebu City Olympics have already submitted their credentials. She is requesting schools and coaches to submit their athletes and teams’ credentials before the deadline.

FORMIDABLE

TEAM CEBU CITY

Meanwhile, University of Cebu (UC) athletics director Bernard Ricablanca is calling on fellow Cebuano teams to step up during the Cebu City Olympics so as to come up with a formidable team Cebu City for the CVIRAA.

Ricablanca said UC will field in its best teams and athletes for the Cebu City Olympics and hopes other teams such as rivals University of San Carlos (USC) will also do so.

UC and the USC created a friendly rivalry in the past two years in Cebu with the Warriors finally stealing the show in the recent Milo Little Olympics Regional Finals.

“We have to step up and show everyone that despite the calamity we experienced, we are still capable of performing our best,” Ricablanca said. “That’s why I’m calling on Cesafi schools to step up to form a strong team Cebu City.”

UC is the current secondary champion in the Cebu City Olympics while USC is the reigning elementary champion.

With the implementation of the traditional medal standings to determine the winners for this year’s meet, Ricablanca said that UC and USC’s rivalry will still highlight the competition as both schools vowed to go all-out in the five-day competition.