By Franklin P. Gumapon
PAGADIAN CITY – In preparation for the May
3-9, 2015Palarong Pambansa in Tagum City, Davao del Norte, the Department of
Education (DepEd)-9 has just concluded the conduct of the 2015 Zamboanga
Peninsula Athletic Association (ZPRAA) Meet hosted by the city government here.
Eight athletic delegations from the provincial schools
divisions of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur and ZamboangaSibugay, and
the city schools divisions of Dapitan, Dipolog, Pagadian, Isabela and Zamboanga
converged here last week to vie for the different sports competitions.
The overall results of the four-day sports competitions
showed that Zamboanga del Sur emerged as champion in the secondary level
followed by Zamboanga City and Dipolog City.
In the elementary level, Zamboanga City got champion
followed by Zamboanga del Sur and Dipolog City.
In an interview with Dr. Malcolm S. Garma, officer in-charge
of DepEd-9, he said that the winning athletes, who will be sent for the
PalarongPambansa, would have their training at the Zamboanga del Sur Provincial
Government Sports Complex at Dao, Pagadian City, as Governor Antonio H. Cerilles
had acceded to DepEd’s request to hold such training there.
Garma also bared that region 9 was second to the last among
the 17 regions in last year’s PalarongPambansa in Laguna. But he was quick to
cite certain factors affecting the preparation of the athletes in this region
such as language barrier, religion, inadequate training and other
socio-cultural factors. “It’s only here in region 9 where people speak so many kinds
of languages – Chavacano, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Tagalog, Tausog, Subano, Kalibugan,
etc. – which somehow affect teamwork among athletes,” Garma explained.