WANTING to leave an imprint as a town serious in its bid to churn out the best athletes, Catigbian hosts the private schools association athletic meet, the last kind of sports meet to complete its hosting record for sports events. Opening its arms again to host the Bohol Association of Catholic Schools (BACS) Meet this year, the town has spread the green welcome carpet to 20 catholic secondary schools participating in the meet. Meet participating delegations are from the two catholic schools of Tubigon, two schools of Loon, Maribojoc, Antequera, Cortes, Balilihan, 2 schools of host Catigbian, Sagbayan, Panglao, Baclayon, Lila, Dimiao, Garcia Hernandez, 3 schools of Jagna and Batuan. The recent hosting of the games, starting November 25-28 completes the slate of hosting the town has done for major sports meets in Bohol, a feat not all towns in Bohol may be too privileged.

After hosting sub-congressional to Congressional meets, Catigbian earned the confidence by inviting the Provincial Meet organizers to consider the towns sports grounds as venue to the hostilities two years back. After gaining the nod, mayor Roberto Salinas and his performance team started a complex sequence of coordination and preparation to transform its often-waterlogged sports center into a standard tournament venue complete with a carpet of Bermuda grass, in record time, revealed municipal information officer designate Ardissa Estavilla. With the arena aid out, next was to make sure that the hallowed grounds of the sports venue becomes consecrated by a roster of great athletes from the town. Himself personally seeing who his town athletes representing District I were routed during the provincial meet, he initiated a sports program that would be sustainable, Estavilla added. Here, the town has hired respectable coaches, trainors and sports enthusiasts to instill in their athletes the rudiments of the games, and the immediate result was a pronounced reversal of standings his athletes earned during the Congressional and sub-congressional meets.

The BACS meet would be his other test bed to see if his sports program has borne fruit, she immediately claimed. Hell bent on making hs athletes excel, Mayor Salinas, in his message still advised athletes to be true to the value and spirit of sportsmanship. He said respect, teamwork and respect for human life, perhaps are the true value of sports. Though winning is the name of the game, let us be reminded always that in our efforts to reach the finish line, we play the game, fair and square and avoid hurting others for the sake of victory, he stated in the event program. (PIA)