Rubberized track

After the long wait, the worn-out rubberized track at the Cebu City Sports Center will soon be repaired.

The recent sale of 30 hectares of the South Road Properties to SM Property Holdings has given the City of Cebu the funds needed to repair the track oval, which is already 16 years old.

The lifespan of a rubberized track is said to be ten years.

Our sports center, which was built for Cebu’s hosting of the Palarong Pambansa in 1994, is probably the best-utilized among the structures built for the annual sports meet.

The concept during those years was to spread the budget for the construction of sports arenas around the country.

Cebu was lucky to have been picked as host of the games in 1994, which allowed the old track oval of the Abellana National School to be transformed into the CCSC. Then City Councilor Joy Augustus Young was one of the men, who made the whole thing happen.

Joy is not an athlete, but he understood the need for a good arena and hosting the Palarong Pambansa was the best way to get things done.

The construction of the CCSC, no doubt, changed how the Cebuanos view sports and more importantly also developed our love for physical fitness and activities.

With thousands of joggers using the facility all year round and the thousands of others using it for various physical activities, the CCSC has become a venue where the city’s rich and poor can converge and enjoy sweating it out.

The much-needed repair has been a dream, which I shared with many others, who are very passionate about sports, and it is soon becoming a reality.

I just hope that after the rubberized track would be repaired, the city can find ways to preserve the oval so that the Cebuanos can enjoy it for many more years.

Although I rarely visit the sports center these days unlike in the past years, but every time I am there, I can’t help but feel nostalgic.

I am also positive that aside from Joy Young, Ricky Ballesteros, who manages the facility, is also very happy with this development.

I do agree that the city should provide another sports facility at the SRP not only for the joggers, but for the serious competitors also.

 The city has grown so big that one sports center is not anymore enough to cater to the needs of the public.

I’ll be waiting for that to happen.

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MILESTONES: Belated birthday greetings go to my fellow sports columnist, sports dad, La Sallian from Toledo, and sports enthusiast Enrico David ‘Rico’ S. Navarro, who turned a year older yesterday.

Happy birthday greetings today go to my classmate and compadre engr. William Sienes II of PLDT.

Advance greetings go to those celebrating tomorrow – Bonz Adriano, Carlo Llave, and Gassy Lizares.

More power to all of you!