Sports

Zach Lucas Obsioma and his swimming mentor, Max Fermales, after winning his third gold at the WVRRA 2024 in Talisay City on Sunday.*Maria Evita Obsiama photoA 10-year-old boy from Cadiz City, who  was born with the rare phocomelia syndrome,    grabbed three golds in swimming at the  paragames of the ongoing Western Visayas Regional Athletic (VWRAA) Meet 2024 hosted by Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.  Dubbed as the WVRAA "swimming sensation", Zach Lucas Obsioma, a Level 5 student at the Special Education (SPED) Training Center in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, was a crowd favorite at the swimming venue at St. John's Institute on May 3 to 5, a press release from Cadiz City said.Phocomelia syndrome  is a rare congenital anomaly where the...

Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez  and  Senator Francis Tolentino (3rd and 4th from left)  with  Carlos Hilado Memorial State University president Norberto Mangulabnan, CHED-Western Regional Director Raul Alvarez  and Philippine Air Force Reserve Commander Maj. Gen. Elpidio Talja (l-r) show the signed memorandum of agreement for the  hosting the ROTC Games.* The Bacolod City  government  is gearing up for the staging of the Philippine Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Games 2024 Visayas Regional Qualifying Leg on May 26 to June 1, an event seen to boost the position of Bacolod as a sports tourism destination.  Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Maj. Gen. Elpidio Talja, commander of the Philippine Air Force Reserve Command, led the signing of the ...

The athletes at the WVRAA meet opening on Thursday.*Richard Malihan photo Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson is rooting for the athletes from  Negros Occidental to win the championship at the ongoing    2024 Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) Meet at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City. “I wish the best for our athletes,” Lacson said on Friday, May 3. Lacson said he would like to see a lot of Negrenses  representing Western Visayas at the 64th Palarong Pambansa in Cebu in July. The governor said he is keeping some of his afternoons free to watch the  WVRAA games and cheer for the Negrense athletes. The WVRAA meet ends on May 7.*  

The groundbreaking rites on Saturday.*Victorias PIO photo Victorias City is making  history again as the first 11-aside Football Pitch equipped with synthetic turf in the Western Visayas Region will soon rise at the  Victorias National High School.  Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez led the groundbreaking ceremony for the project together with Rep. Erwin Tulfo (ACT-CIS Party List), Rep. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District), and Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Portia Mallorca on Saturday,  April 27.The  football pitch will be the first-ever 11-a-side synthetic turf in the region, Benitez said in his speech. Benitez said  he aspires to make Victorias City a sports tourism hub in  Negros Occidental.  T...

Athletes from 12 tertiary schools in Negros Occidental and Oriental are competing in the first-ever Negros Island Region (NIR) Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) Meet in Bacolod City that started Friday, April 26.After the opening rites held at the STI West Negros University gymnasium, the various sports events began in venues of participating schools and in shopping malls and will run until April 30.Ryan Mark Molina, executive vice president and chief operations officer of STI West Negros University and second vice president of National PRISAA, said that during its planning conference last August, the National PRISAA Board gave its blessing to put up the NIR PRISAA."While our government is looking into the structure of the Negros Island Region, we, here, in the acad...

The Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.* Ronnie Baldonado photoClose to 5,000 delegates from around Region 6 are expected to arrive in Negros Occidental for  the Western Visayas Regional Athletic Association (WVRAA) meet May 2 to 7. Department of Education-Western Visayas spokesperson Hernani Escullar  said on Wednesday,  April 24,  that they are expecting about 540 athletes and 131 chaperones and coaches from  each of the six provinces of the region, and  730 regional office personnel and technical working group members for the regional games. There  will be  more than 30 sporting events, he said.  The delegation from Antique province will be billeted at the Mansilingan Agro-Industrial High School, Aklan - Bacolod Cit...

Local athletes, sports standouts, coaches and school heads from 12 private universities and colleges in Negros Island are converging at the  STI West Negros University in Bacolod City, to compete in various sports and cultural events at the 1st Negros Island Private Schools Athletic Association (NIPRISAA) which will officially open on  Friday, April 26.   The  launch will begin with a mass at 7:30 a.m. and inaugural rites will commence at 9 a.m., a press release  from the NIPRISAA organizing committee said.  A day before the official opening of NIPRISAA, the National PRISAA and the Philippine Sports Commission will introduce their Sports Grassroots Program during the National Grassroots Sports Summit-Bacolod Leg at the new School of Basic Educatio...

Rolando Espina (right) and Bren Kevin Policarpio Cabasa  at the Ultramilano-Sanremo race in Italy * Ultra marathon runner Rolando Espina placed second in this year’s Ultramilano-Sanremo race in Italy, with an official time of 36:40 hours covering 283 kilometers today, April 14.Espina was followed by another Filipino, Bren Kevin Policarpio Cabasa who finished the race clocking 39.09 hours.  The Ultramilano-Sanremo race covers a course that is divided into three main parts, each geographically different from the another, according to their website. One must finish the course under 48 hours.The first part is flat starting from Milan going through Pavia and Ovada. The second part is the most challenging which entails a climb up Mt. Turchino located between t...

NOFA’s newly-elected officers* The newly-elected president of Negros Occidental Football Association promised to implement sustainable grassroots development initiatives for football coaches in the province during the NOFA elections at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City on Saturday, April 6.Jose Miguel Valmayor of the San Carlos City Football Club was unanimously elected as the new NOFA president, while Rene Dofitas of Bacolod United FC is the new vice president and Augustine Rey Rivas of Kabankalan FC is the general secretary.Valmayor said that he plans to unify the football leagues in the province and will focus on reorganization of the association.He also plans to institute and implement sustainable grassroots development initiatives and licensing programs for t...