Milo Little Olympics

CEBU, Philippines —  It’s a wave of green that lovers of blue don’t mind at all. It’s the Milo Little Olympics 2018 Visayas Finals that kicked off last Thursday with an elaborate opening ceremony, with games being played from Friday until this morning. The closing ceremony will be held after noon today at the SM Seaside City. And so it has been an annual tradition that the Cebu City Sports Center, SM Seaside City and the gyms of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu are dressed with green.

All for what? Giving student-athletes a chance to experience an Olympic-style event. Giving them the chance to compete against others in the same sport that they have learned to love. Giving them the exposure and experience they need in a competition-like atmosphere. Giving them the opportunity to be at their best. That is this weekend’s version of thinking green.

Over 3,000 athletes are gathered for this short but action-packed weekend; competing in 15 events: arnis, athletics, basketball, badminton, chess, football, gymnastics, karate, lawn tennis, scrabble, sepak takraw, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball. All events will be played in two divisions elementary (Under 12) and secondary (Under 16). At the main hub at the Cebu City Sports Center, athletics (track and field) is the centerpiece event. Swimming, football and sepak takraw are also held there. At the Magis Eagles Arena of SHS-Ateneo de Cebu, basketball is played. At the Lux Oriens Gym of the school’s new campus in Canduman, Mandaue, volleyball is it. All other events are held at the major activity areas/centers of the posh SM Seaside City.

 “Venue pa lang, kuyaw na kaayo,” MLO Visayas main organizer Ricky Ballesteros says. And beyond the venue is the tough competition where the athletes give their best. At stake are medals for the top three finishers of every event: gold, silver and bronze. An over-all or general championship is also up for grabs for the best-performing schools. The school that registers the most number of points wins the over-all championship in both the elementary and secondary levels. These points will come from the different results of the events that the school joined. The top ten schools will be recognized at the close of the games with cash prizes offered. This is where schools with the biggest sports programs get to show off their might.

One of the welcome adjustments that were made due to the entry of Senior High School was the decision to set an Under 16 age cut-off for the secondary division. This gives the up-and-coming prospects of every high school a chance to compete against his or her peers. With Grades 11 and 12, high school students now reach the age of 18. They are students who play for their respective varsity teams, while those in the Under 16 age group wait it out. With the MLO, they get their chance to shine and step up in the shadows of their top Under 18 athletes.

 After all, the Under 16 athletes are also in waiting to move up when they enter Grades 11 and 12. This becomes the battleground for all future Under 18 varsity athletes.

The timing of the “MLO” is also just right. It comes at a time when schools look for competitions to give their teams the much-needed exposure in an actual competition or game. This comes in perfectly for events that don’t have too many competitions or tournaments to join. While the likes of basketball, football and volleyball have many tournaments to join all year-round, other events don’t. They wait for the DepEd series of competitions to get a taste of real action. Tune-up and friendly games are organized but there’s nothing like the real thing, is there? The MLO also becomes a barometer of how one has developed in a sport and what he, she or the team has to do to become better. It isn’t a surprise to see MLO winners also excel in other events that follow, but the bigger surprise is when non-MLO winners shine later in other competitions, thanks to their experience in the MLO.

While a medal would be a nice piece of jewelry to take home, the mere fact that one competed and gave his or her best is already worth a podium finish. Sports isn’t all bout the winning.

Far from it. Sports is designed to help develop the person over-all. The litany of plus points and major positives is endless. Discipline, fortitude, patience, hard work, sacrifice, time management. These and so much more are engrained in every athlete as he sweats it out in practice six times a week and competes almost every weekend. He also has to report to classes, do his/her homework, take exams, do research, perform a dance or two on special events, go on outreach projects and also help clean up his/her classroom or school campus. This is when sports people pray and hope that teachers recognize how tough it is to be a student-athlete. It’s not the stereotype sports jock and all-glamorous life, after all.

What a weekend it has been for Cebu sports. While it may have been a wet one, MLO’s green made it all worthwhile.