To heighten its sports training program and make it more accessible to the underprivileged youth, the City Government through the Tacloban City Physical Fitness and Sports Development Office is launching a free three-month sports clinic in the northern part of the city.

Scheduled on weekends at the Tacloban North National High School, the initiative will start on October 19, 2024, and will focus on four (4) sports disciplines—Taekwondo, Volleyball, Football, and Basketball.

Michael de la Peña, the acting sports coordinator, emphasized their commitment to supporting underprivileged kids by eliminating registration fees and reducing transportation costs. “Our goal is to bring quality sports training closer to the youth in the northern barangays, so they don’t have to travel to the city proper for training,” de la Peña shared, acknowledging that financial and logistical barriers often hinder these young athletes to participate in sports clinics.

He added that the weekend schedule has been made to accommodate students’ school commitments, noting that this will allow them to have more participants benefitting the sports program.

Each sport will have a two-hour session, with training schedules set for Saturdays and Sundays. Taekwondo will be from 7:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m.; Volleyball from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.; Basketball from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.; and Football from 3:00-5:00 p.m. Local coaches will lead the training, with 8-10 sessions planned each month.

Youth who are interested in joining are encouraged to register through their barangay chairmen or Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairpersons.

Following the successful implementation of the program held in June 2024, which benefitted nearly 600 youth, the City plans to expand the said program to include additional sports disciplines, such as swimming, where Tacloban has shown strong performance at the national level.

As part of the city’s long-term sports development plans, Mayor Alfred Romualdez along with the Liga ng mga Barangay President Raymund Romualdez shared a plan to build a grandstand in Tacloban North that will be a big boost to hone and develop the skills of the youth.