UNLIKE Baguio City, Benguet province is set to send a handful of young athletes to the upcoming Batang Pinoy National Games set in December in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur.
The lean but mean delegates, according to sports coordinator Dean Mark Monang, will consist of athletes in judo, taekwondo, swimming, and dance sports.
The bulk of the more than 30 delegations from the province will be from taekwondo and swimming where they will be sending 11 athletes respectively.
Dancesport will be fielding four while judo will have two.
While Baguio City will be gunning to retain its overall title, Monang said Benguet, with its delegates, will try to secure a decent medal haul in the first weeklong blended competition for in and out-of-school youth aged 15 years old and below.
Baguio City meanwhile will hope to outmuscle the competition anew as it sends 282 competitors for the onsite contest.
The number of participants for Baguio is expected to double as some competitions will be played virtually.
The face-to-face or onsite sports events featured in Vigan, Ilocos Sur are archery, athletics, badminton, chess, cycling, table tennis, swimming, weightlifting, and obstacle course.
Arnis, dance sport, judo, karate-do, Muay Thai, Pencak Silat, wushu, and taekwondo will compete virtually.
Baguio City has always pinned its hopes on combative sports as it seeks a rare four-peat in the tournament that will be played from December 4 to 10.
Batang Pinoy is designed in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Leagues of Provinces, Cities, Municipalities, and Barangays.
The Philippine Olympic Committee and National Sports Associations, both non-government entities and internationally recognized authorities in different sports, shall run and oversee the technical management of the event.
In 2019, Baguio City bagged 62 gold medals including 45 silver, and 70 bronze during the week-long national youth sports competition organized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for athletes.
