Laoag City Mayor Michael Keon is confident that Region 1 will put up a good fight once the 65th Palarong Pambansa formally starts on Saturday at the Ferdinand E. Marcos (FEM) Memorial Stadium in Laoag City.
Keon said he is confident that the host region can snatch some medals from powerhouse delegates from CALABARZON and National Capital Region in the prestigious annual sportsfest for elementary and high school athletes.
During the previous edition in Cebu, the Ilocos Region finished 15th out of 17 regions with five gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals.
Keon, a veteran sports administrator, believes that they will come up with a better performance now that the Palarong Pambansa will be held in the hometown of his cousin, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
“Well, so the Region 1 delegation is composed of approximately 800 athletes. The sports that we are fairly strong are track and field, combat sports, specifically wrestling, wushu, taekwondo, and athletics,” said Keon, who is set to step down after losing the mayoralty race to James Bryan Alcid in the previous midterm elections.
“We’re also strong in gymnastics. In fact, as you know, Laoag City was the champion of the R1AA, the regional sports competition, back-to-back the last two years.”
Keon said they may not take the overall title but they will surely put up a good fight.
“We are a team player. Now that they put me in charge of our Ilocos Region campaigners, we will make sure to excel in this meet that our province is hosting,” Keon added.
Keon has what it takes to rally the Ilocano athletes.
In fact, he was the original architect of the largely successful Project: Gintong Alay program that produced legendary names like the late sprint queen Lydia de Vega-Mercado, Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Elma Muros, middle-distance runner Isidro del Prado and Olympic bronze medalist Leopoldo Serrantes.
He was also in attendance in the previous Palaro edition in Cebu City to observe and study the dynamics of hosting such a large-scale multi-sports event.
“Three days before the formal opening of the Palarong Pambansa, scheduled to commence on 24 May and hosted by the Province of Ilocos Norte, I made another visit to our athletes to oversee their rigorous training at the Northwestern University Oval and FEM Stadium,” Keon said.
“At the NWU Oval, I met the soccer teams from Regions 1 and 2. I also met Coach Erwin Dalo, Assistant Coach Oscar Domingo Jr., Team Captain Joshua Batang, Goalkeeper Reniel Natividad, Coach Mark Villareal of CALABARZON and Mr. Mart Santiago.”
Keon stressed that proper coaching is essential in nurturing athletes so that they can evolve and eventually succeed in the international arena.
“First of all, I believe that sound and proper coaching is always paramount to an athlete’s success. In fact, we were able to hire some top coaches for Laoag City that helped us win the Region 1 athletic meet,” said Keon, who hired quality mentors to steer Laoag to 86 gold, 62 silver, and 68 bronze medals to emerge as overall champion in the regional sportsfest in Pangasinan.
Among those he hired were former Gintong Alay standouts Renato Unso and Erlinda Lavandia in athletics.
“I am looking at our Ilocos middle distance runners to deliver.”
