National Milo Little Olympics: Tough battle looms

MANILA, Philippines — Two teams with a perpetual trophy and two others with no overall crown yet are all set for a battle royale as the 7th National Milo Little Olympics gets underway today at the Laguna Sports Complex.

Defending champion National Capital Region, which is now joining forces with South Luzon, is looking forward to a four-peat even as some of its top athletes have been pulled out due to conflict of schedules with the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

The new geographic splits implemented by the organizing Nestle Philippines for this event has somehow helped NCR to still come up with a good lineup, though Dr. Robert Calo said their delegation is much stronger this time compared to last year.The other group is composed of Northern and Central Luzon.

But with a couple of athletes from Laguna, NCR-South Luzon may get most of the crowd's support and homecourt advantage.

"Hindi naman kami magpapahuli.Hindi kami papayag na basta-basta na lang makukuha ang korona. Ito ay tagisan ng talino at lakas," said Calo in a press conference yesterday at Shakey's Malate here.

Team Visayas, on the other hand, is just as ready, fielding in the strongest team assembled ever, thanks to the participation of athletes from Iloilo,  Antique, Capiz, Dumaguete, Bacolod, Bohol and the Cebuanos.

"I'm quite confident that we will have a very good performance because we have been reinforced by athletes from Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete and other parts of the Visayas region," said Visayas head of delegation Ricky Ballesteros.

Team Visayas is the first one to own a perpetual trophy, having completed a grandslam feat from 2009 to 2011.

 Tess Bernardino, speaking for Northern and Central Luzon, said the "gentle giant" has slowly awakened after years of being cellar-dwellers.

"Dahan-dahan nang nagigising ang 'gentle giant'. Rest assured bibigyan namin sila ng magandang laban," said Bernardino.

Aside from better composition of athletes, the wrath of typhoon Lando that greatly affected Northern and Central Luzon area has also inspired the said team to perform better.

"Napaka-resilient ng team namin. 100 percent attendance po tayo. Luckily, none of the athletes were victims of the calamity. Swerte din at nung dumating ang bagyo, relax na sa training yung mga bata," added Bernardino.

Team Mindanao, through Migs Llamera, said they should not be taken for granted as those years of being at third place most of the time served as a  motivation for the coaches and athletes to finally wrestle its first overall crown.

    "We were supposed to host the national championships, but our oval is not yet ready.We may not be prepared for the hosting, but not in competition," said Llamera.

"It's going to be very exciting. A champion may be declared and have this perpetual trophy," said Milo Sports Executive Robbie de Vera. “We expect a nothing less than a benchmark year.”

And while it's going to be a very tough battle ahead, Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez, who is hosting the multi-sporting event for the first time, assured everyone of their full support.

"Lahat ng aspect ay napag-aralan at napaghandaan na namin. Pati na ang security at traffic pati medical aspect," said Governor Hernandez. “It is with open arms and honor that the provincial government of Laguna host this prestigious event and we welcome all the delegates.” (FREEMAN)