Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard Bachmann recognized the growing number of sports and participants in the Philippine ROTC Games.

Bachmann said the increasing number of sports in the ROTC Games will give athletes, especially those in the grassroots level, a bigger platform to showcase and develop their talents that would give them a chance to become members of the national team.

The PSC chief personally witnessed the action in the Mindanao leg, where eight sports in arnis, boxing, kickboxing were included in the regular roster composed of basketball, swimming, sepak takraw, target shooting and raiders competition.

“The increase in the number of sports in the ROTC Games means a larger platform for our athletes to showcase their talents and, at the same time, expands our pool for talent identification in line with our mandate to the country’s grassroots sports,” Bachmann said.

The participants in this year’s Mindanao leg had increased to around 2,000 athletes from just 1,300 last year.

The number of sports also increased to 15 from only seven on its inaugural staging last year. Among the sports also played in this year are athletics, Esports, taekwondo, table tennis, volleyball, including chess which makes its pilot appearance in the tournament.

The Philippine ROTC Games is now on its second leg, with the Visayas edition taking place in Bacolod City last month.

Indang, Cavite will host the Luzon leg and the National Championships in July and August.