With just two weeks to go, Davao City is preparing several world class sports facilities for athletes participating in this year’s Palarong Pambansa.
Davao City Sports Division head Mikey Aportadera said the sporting facilities which will be used for the games are of international standard and world-class.
“We have world-class sports facilities that we will be using, the FIFA-standard football field, the FINA-standard swimming pool and of course the other facilities, like the track and field, the oval and the stadium,” Aportadera said.
The FIFA or Federation Internationale de Football Association is the world governing body for football while the FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) is the international governing body for water sports.
Aportadera said the sports facilities particularly the Davao City Sports Complex located at the University of the Philippines Mindanao campus are designed to host international competitions.
He said that the football field in the sports complex which has an artificial turf is the only FIFA- standard football field in Mindanao.
The University of the Southeastern Philippines (USEP) Gymnasium which hosts some of the basketball games in the Palaro is also a FIBA-standard basketball court. FIBA or the Federation Internationale de Basketball is the world governing body for basketball.
Carrying the theme “Shaping the Future Through Sports” the 2019 Palarong Pambansa in Davao City is expected to be participated by 20,000 young athletes from all over the country.
Aportadera said the facilities will be ready for the Palaro which will open on April 27 and will run until May 4.
Davao City first hosted Palarong Pambansa in 1950 which was then known as the Bureau of Public Schools Interscholastic Athletics Association Games or BPISAA. This will be the 69th year after the city last hosted such large sporting event. Lack of athletic facilities such as a sports complex is the primary reason why Davao City could not host Palarong Pambansa in previous years.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte then the Davao City Mayor signed a memorandum of agreement with UP- Mindanao in 2015 for the use of a 20-hectare property in the campus for a sports complex. This paved the way for the realization of a modern sports complex here.
The Davao City Sports Complex has a football field, stadium, gym, rubberized track oval and an olympic-sized swimming pool.(By Rudolph Ian Alama)
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