BAGUIO City: The city will bring in fray 250 delegates for the upcoming 2015 Batang Pinoy Luzon Qualifiers in Ilagan, Isabela, this August.
They need higher number of athletes for this year’s race if the Summer Capital wants to reclaim the overall title in the sports competition, Sun Star quoted City sports development officer Gaudencio Gonzales as saying.
“We have padded the number of Baguio athletes for this year’s Batang Pinoy Luzon, so if we enlist 250 there will be at least 220 or so junior athletes excluding their coaches playing in the various events,” Gonzales reportedly said.
The city official added that the additional number of city athletes bound for the Luzon qualifiers were allowed after the city agreed to bring in more to join the various team competitions.
Apart from the futsal team, Baguio will also carry at least two more squads participating in baseball and softball competitions, the report said.
“The coaches of batted balls made their request, since we are trying to somewhat give all sports the equal chance we agreed to help them in reaching the Luzon leg of Batang Pinoy,” said Gonzales.
Last year, they sent 170 delegates with only 150 athletes, he added.
During the city 2015 edition of the Luzon qualifiers held in Malolos, Bulacan, Baguio maintained its second overall finish with 42 gold, 40 silver, and 46 bronze medals behind back-to-back champion Quezon City with 47-29-27.
“We fell a little short last year pero we are confident that we can reclaim the overall title we held in 2012 and 2013. Despite the fact na natalo tayo sa gold count we are still considered as one of the powerhouse since we still managed to earn the most number of medals among other competitors,” Gonzales explained.
While the Philippine Sports Commission is yet to announce the final dates of the week-long sports race after it was deferred from July, the City Sports Office assured all junior athletes set for BP Luzon will be at their peak during the competition, said the news portal.
