DAGUPAN CITY – “Only you can bring our city to the top post. Let’s go for more gold and bring home the championship!”
These were the words of inspiration and encouragement of Mayor Belen T. Fernandez to the 473 Balon Dagupan athletes seeing action in the 2018 Region 1 Athletic Association (R1AA) meet in Alaminos City on February 11-16.
The city is sending its 576 strong delegates to the R1AA meet to include the coaches.
Fernandez promised to join the athletes, their coaches and the officials of the Dagupan City Schools Division led by Schools Division Superintendent Lorna G. Bugayong during the opening day.
The city’s athletes and their coaches received their training and competition allowance of P4,000 each and their new uniforms from the city government through Mayor Fernandez.
The distribution was facilitated by the Dagupan City Sports Commission led by Commissioner Finnela T. Sim and the Dagupan City Athletic Association led by its president Renato Benitez, principal of Lucao Elementary School.
For this year, the city is joining two new sports events– the dance sports and “pencak silat” competitions. These are on top of the other events that the Balon Dagupan athletes will be competing like in arnis, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, chess, football, sepak takraw, gymnastics (RG), gymnastics (WAG), gymnastics (MAG), aero gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball for elementary division.
In the secondary division, Balon Dagupan athletes will be competing in arnis, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, 3 on 3 basketball, baseball, softball, billiards, chess, football, gymnastics (RG), futsal, lawn tennis, gymnastics (WAG), gymnastics (MAG), sepak takraw, swimming, dance sport, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, and wushu.
Students from SPED will also be joining the games in special sports in athletics, swimming and bocce.
The swimming event in the 2018 R1AA meet will be held at the Dagupan City’s Olympic-size swimming pool. (Joseph C. Bacani/CIO/Feb. 8, 2018)