No Milo Little Olympics this year

CEBU, Philippines — For the first time since its inception three decades ago, there will be no Milo Little Olympics this year.

This after the organizing Nestle Philippines has decided to put on hold, for the time being, its annual sports spectacle for elementary and high school student-athletes.

“The Milo Little Olympics will temporarily be put on hold this year to give way to our other sports advocacy projects,” said Nestle Philippines Sports Executive Lester Castillo.

The Milo Olympics started in 1988 in Manila and was extended to other regions in 1996.

From purely a regional battle, the organizers then staged a National Championships wherein the best of Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and the National Capital Region compete for the overall supremacy. It began in 2009 here in Cebu but got stopped in 2016. The regional event continued though until last year.

Even without the MLO, the young aspiring athletes still have other activities to look forward to, the Milo Champ Camp and the Milo Barangay Liga.

The Champ Camp is a nationwide activity in partnership with the Department of Education. Here, elementary students will learn the basics of several sports that are being featured in the Little Olympics.

From the camp, students can apply what they learned via the Milo Barangay Liga.

Aside from the tournament, the selected host barangays will also get a chance for their courts to be refurbished and in the process inspire the locals to nurture a healthy and active lifestyle.

“This is aimed to get more children into sports from the grassroots level,” said Castillo, adding that their new projects have been aligned and discussed with their partners including the DepEd.