More opportunities for Davao athletes with sports academy in Tagum

DAVAO DEL NORTE, February 18, 2016 - After pulling off the best Palarong Pambansa ever last year, the Province of Davao del Norte is raising the bar with the establishment of the Davao del Norte Regional Sports Academy (DNRSA).

The facility became a reality when President Benigno Simeon Aquino III signed Republic Act No. 10674, establishing the DNRSA to be located at the Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex in Mankilam, Tagum City.

1st District Congressman Anthony del Rosario, who principally authored the measure in Congress, said the facility, which is the first nationally-legislated sports academy in the country, shall be the primary sports development and training center for the Davao Region.

“The sports academy will provide better opportunities for our young athletes in the Davao Region,” he said.

As he puts it, DNRSA “is a manifestation of our firm commitment to continuously develop our youth in the field of sports and to provide a competitive venue for producing elite athletes,” in the region.

Cong. del Rosario handed over the DNRSA marker to Governor Rodolfo del Rosario and DepEd-XI Regional Director Atty. Alberto Escobarte, during the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Davao Region Athletic Association (DAVRAA) Meet last February 14, 2016.

The marker contains tablets of R.A. 10674, bearing the signatures of President Aquino, Senate President Franklin Drillon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte.

Unlike other provincial sports development training centers that are created by local ordinances, DNRSA has the backing of a national law that assures the support of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Governor Rodolfo del Rosario said funds are already available for the start of the facility.

“We already have the funds for it, we just have to put up a building where they can be billeted. 

We already have the facilities. And then we have a comprehensive high school, which is a public school. We’ll do the academics there. For sports courses, it’ll be here inside the complex,” the governor told members of the media last year.

While taking their normal academic learning, students of the academy will be provided a billeting building and classrooms where they can train with all of the facilities of the sports complex.

He said the training center will assure the sustainability of the spanking world-class sports complex of the province.

The older del Rosario revealed the project is part of sustainable effort of the province to ensure the sports complex will not render useless after hosting big sporting events, such as the Palaro and the DAVRAA.

“We want to see to it that there’s a continuing program because what we built here will be useless, it will become a white elephant,” he said.

The sports complex has since been opened to the general public, attracting more and more sports and physical fitness enthusiasts to use the center.

Part of the provincial grassroots sports development program is the two-year old Talaingod DavNor Runners project, which is now training native Ata-Manobo children to become elite long-distance runners. (Noel Baguio/PIO DavNor)