JOYCE MARIE G. DALISAY
Teacher I Guiguinto
National Vocational High School
Everyone in the Philippine sports community has felt the impact of COVID-19. Most of the events and competition have been suspended indefinitely. This included the Palarong Pambansa which was supposed to be scheduled last May 1 to 9, 2020 and to be held in Marikina, Metro Manila. Sports organizers, official hosts, athletes, coaches and parents struggled to develop contingency plans given the current situation of the country. Due to the indefinite suspension of these events, many athletes of all grade levels were left with no choice but to train at home.
Fast forward, after all the challenges and difficulties faced in 2020 and 2021, it seems that this year 2022 is a good year for all of us, as the number of cases and casualties caused by the virus were slowly decreasing. Establishments including offices, malls, government institutions, schools and sports events are taking one’s time to get back to their normal operations day by day. One of the good examples of a sport event that was executed this year was the PVL (Philippine Volleyball League) that has ended successfully last April 8, 2022.
Apart from the PVL, another nationwide sport event which is the Palarong Pambansa is has launched a comeback this year. Palarong Pambansa Board led by the Department of Education in coordination with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) awarded the hosting of Palarong Pambansa 2022 to the Province of Sorsogon. Supported by Governor Chiz Escudero, improvements on infrastructure, tourism and health and safety protocols have been initiated in preparation to cater various events for the said nationwide competition.
Futsal, one of the in-crowds and much awaited games in Palarong Pambansa has set in motion their “Pilot Testing” through a bubble tournament with limited face to face last April 4 to 6, 2022 held in Sitero Francisco Memorial National High School, Valenzuela City. This was coordinated and steered by Joel Barcelo, tournament manager from Nueva Ecija. Young girls in secondary level from Manila, Nueva Ecija and Valenzuela head on face to face for the title. While on the other hand, softball and boxing competition have been kicked off as well.
