Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes prepares series of sporting events for 2014

Talisay City is looking to become one of the major sports contenders in the province of Cebu as its city government is cooking up an ambitious sports development program for next year.

Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes, during the 1st Johnny V. delos Reyes Airsoft Competition held at the Talisay City Hall premises in Talisay City last weekend, said he is planning for a series of sports events and programs for next year involving several sporting disciplines.

The mayor, popularly known as JVR, said he personally told his son, Talisay City’s Administrator John Yre de los Reyes, to work with the city’s sports commission office under Jeannette Villagonzalo for the implementation of the said programs.

The younger Delos Reyes said all is set for a busy sporting year for Talisay City in 2014.

“Naa mi gi line up nga mga events for next year involving many sports competitions like tennis, chess and others. We will have different tournaments for the grassroots level athletes as well as the amateur level and former professional players,” John Yre said. “We will probably start by March of next year.”

Among those planned is a Talisay All-Star game for former professional basketball players of Talisay.

“Daghan man gud maayo mo duwa kaniadto nga taga Talisay, so amo ni sila tapokon to play against each other.”

As for the budget for these events, the younger delos Reyes said they already have a ballpark figure in mind. He said he and Villagonzalo will finalize it soon.

Meanwhile, Jeson Guardo, one of the organizers of the recent airsoft competition in Talisay City, said the sport has just gained a convert in Mayor JVR.

Guardo told Cebu Daily News that the mayor was so amused with the sport that the city has hosted for the first time. He said the mayor promised his full support in future airsoft tournaments in Talisay City.

“Enjoy kayo siya (JVR) sa game unya lipay pud kaayo siya kay daghan kaayong participants. He said that next year, he promises to give his all-out support for airsoft,” Guardo said.

The Talisay City government, according to John Yre, doled out around P100,000 to P150,000 for the two-day airsoft competition, covering the t-shirts, trophies, food for the more than 300 participants and game officials.