Marikina gov’t to offer sports program to students

MANILA, Philippines — Marikina City public school students will soon be offered a city-funded sports program that hopes to breed a new generation of student athletes and keep them out of the streets.

Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said in a statement on Wednesday that he had ordered the creation of a sports development program that would provide training on a broad array of games, including not just basketball but also local sports like “arnis.”

Other sports to be offered under the program would include volleyball, football, softball, baseball, table tennis, badminton, pep squad and sepak takraw, Teodoro said.

The Marikina City Sports Commission met on Monday with the Department of Education Schools Division Office in Marikina to get the ball rolling on the program, which would be implemented in the city’s public schools and eventually, private educational institutions as well.

The program will also enable the city to make use of its 3-hectare Marikina Sports Center which is undergoing renovation. —Matthew Reysio-Cruz