In the pursuit of equal opportunities for all, the Cagayan Valley Regional Athletics Association (CAVRAA) meet gives way to special events catering to differently-abled athletes. This move not only broadens the scope of the competition but also serves as a clear testament to inclusivity and diversity in sports.
These special sports events, commonly referred to as parasports, are avenues for people with disabilities to join and showcase their skills in various sports activities. This shatters the stereotype of an ideal athlete by allowing us to witness the remarkable feats achieved by individuals despite physical or cognitive challenges.
According to the United Nations (UN), “Paralympic athletes embody the highest ideals of humanity – they challenge the boundaries set by society and aim to develop and maximize their potential as world-class athletes.” Through the inclusion of parasports, we strengthen the rights of persons with disabilities to equal access in sports while sending a powerful message of acceptance and respect for all athletes.
However, inclusion is more than just a buzzword. It is not limited to simply providing a seat at the table but about taking proactive measures to create more chances for participation and success. The integration of special events in the CAVRAA meet is just an initial step towards making sports more relevant and adaptive for all.
In order to maximize inclusivity, sports programs should prioritize investment in infrastructure, training, and support services designed for athletes with disabilities. Schools and other local organizations are also encouraged to provide more opportunities for all athletes, regardless of backgrounds and abilities, to harness
their potential. By raising awareness of the value of inclusivity, we promote an environment of empathy and dispel misconceptions that hinder the full participation of athletes with disabilities in sports. This move towards a more inclusive sports environment requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders, including organizers, coaches, athletes, and spectators. Only through collective embrace can true inclusivity be attained.
The effect of integrating special events in sports extends beyond the playing fields. The real impact of efforts to promote inclusivity can genuinely be realized as it permeates the community at large. By embracing special events in sports competitions like the 2024 CAVRAA meet, we do not only enrich our athletic offerings but also prove our commitment to equal opportunity and fairness in sports.
Gone are the days when we confine sports within rigid physical and mental stereotypes. Through the lens of inclusivity, let us extend due support to all learners, giving them the chance to compete on an equal footing. Whether in sports or other domains, everyone deserves our loudest cheers and rounds of applause.
By embracing special events in sports competitions like the CAVRAA meet, we do not only enrich our athletic offerings but also prove our commitment to equal opportunity and fairness in sports. editor-in-chief ANTHONY M. NAVOR I associate editor
I. PIRA I managing editor TIMOTEO H. BAHIWAL
news editor JOSE RAFAEL P. GUIYAB I features editor GLENDA I. PIRA I sports editor MARLOU B. YADAO I layout artists ALEXANDER B. RESPICIO, JHUN P. BAUTISTA LEONARD A. GELACIO, ROWENA LYN C. TUCAY, I chief photojournalist MARCIAL S. CACAL I chief graphics artist CALIXTO O. CALIXTO I contributors LABI L. UPAM, JR., VERGIL ACE B. DELA PEÑA, JENNIFER S. GANNOD, ROBERTO U. ESPAÑOL, JHERYL KAYE B. NAVALTA, RONALD Y. BASUBAS, VALEN JOY B. REYES, MICHAEL KEVIN A. MONFORTE, AILEEN JOY S. MORA, DON, ANGELO V. DE GUZMAN, BEVERLYN C. RAMIREZ, MARJORIE T. MILLAN I circulation & production managers ROY JOHN CRUZ, EMMANUEL BERNARDINO I publication director JAY J. GALLEGOS I consultants SGOD CHIEF JESUS D. ANTONIO, PhD, CID CHIEF MARIETESS B. BAQUIRAN, PhD, ASDS MARY JULIE A. TRUS, PhD, CESO VI, ASDS, WILMA C. BUMAGAT, PhD, CESO VI, SDS RACHEL R. LLANA, PhD, CESO V reach us
pages: DepEd Tayo Isabela and The Isabela Chronicle
Center staging the 522 Emerald warriors for this year’s CAVRAA meet deserve salute after having gone through intensive yet academically enhanced trainings. Hence, the superintendency of SDS Rachel R. Llana ensures that the inclusivity of education is implemented without negotiating the most essential learning competencies.
Counting past CAVRAA Meets for more than two decades in the valley where I write for Isabela Chronicle, I am convinced that the athletes’ general welfare is always the topmost priority of the Department. This is not only because without the athletes, no sports convergence is held, but because they mirror the spectrum of core values reflected from their respective divisions.
Capturing the words of our Regional Director Dr. Benjamin D. Paragas, CESO III during the solidarity meeting with technical officials, tournament managers, delegation heads, LGU officials, and other stakeholders, he hailed the host division, the City of Ilagan for describing it a “world class” in terms of facilities, and amenities. These words truly define that the preparations of every host division of the valley ensure safe, childfriendly playing fields.
Crediting the hearts, heads, and hands behind the Isabela pre-CAVRAA meet 2024 intensive trainings, the superintendency of SDS Rachel R. Llana ensured the safety of the athletes. In fact, she empowered ASDSs Dr. Wilma C. Bumagat and Dr. Mary Julie A. Trus, in coordination with the division Disaster Risk Reduction Management office to monitor heat index and apply operational mitigation. This is a deeply rooted concern for our athletes.
Committee on Child Protection has been deployed in the billeting quarters to monitor sports psychology extending expertise in providing comforting and cheering words to the “ups and downs” of the athletes. SDOIsabela Medical and Dental Team has also sustained its maximized efforts to safeguard physical and dental health of the athletes as evidenced by their round-the-clock shifting in monitoring services.
Convergencies such as CAVRAA Meets usually face challenges on cleanliness and environment protection so the search for the
most maintained camps goes on. Good enough sports warriors are adherent to RA 9003 that has been a practice to protect our Mother Earth.
Caring Emerald SDO has collaborated with Provincial Government of Isabela to forge partnership and engagement in producing the sports amenities, and “head-to-toe” gears of our athletes amounting to more than 12.3 million pesos. This is a concrete proof that the culture of unity in the Queen Province of the North has pampered all Isabeliño learners to be always victorious with their caring hands.
Courageous Emerald sports warriors definitively aspire for gold and glory flexing up to the last strength for Palarong Pambansa entry, but the exceptional stewardship extended by internal and external stakeholders is more vital than the tickets elusively gotten by deserving ones.
Counting past CAVRAA Meets for more than two decades in the valley where I write for Isabela Chronicle, I am convinced that the athletes’ general welfare is always the topmost priority of the Department. This is not only because without the athletes, no sports convergence is held, but because they mirror the spectrum of core values reflected from their respective divisions.
Far from the mainstream games you watch at the grandstand, the Bocce event is now on its debut in the 2024 Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association (CAVRAA) meet after being a demonstration game for more than a decade.
Trodding the different playing venues, I happened to watch Bocce as it is now an official regional sport exclusively for the Para-games players or children with special educational needs.
I saw how Isabela “Bocce” event paragamers Jechelle C. Ronas, Prince Handrich M. Sua, Danica Calderon, and Andrew Tumamao clinched the game in the final minute to score a single-point advantage against City of Ilagan players.
According to Para Games Tournament Director Jameston Infanta, a bocce team is composed of four members with two male and two female contingents to play in singles, doubles and team categories, which contribute a total of four medals in the tally.
Players or teams are given a set of four balls each – green or red bocce balls. The first one to throw the ball will be decided through toss coin. The winner in the toss coin will first throw a smaller ball called Pallino or lead ball, followed by his colored bocce ball.
“Ito ay laro ng palapitan sa palina, tig-aapat sila ng bola, na yung bola nila ay ilalapit sa palina. Kung anong bola ang pinakamalapit sa palina yun ang mabibigyan ng puntos. Ang bilang ng puntos ng isang team sa bawat round ay nakadepende kung ilang bola ang pinakamalapit sa palina,” Infanta said.
Infanta also said the game ends in 10 minutes or when one team or player reaches 16 points as agreed upon by the coaches.
“Dito sa CAVRAA, nagmodify kami due to the extreme heat, sa singles ginawa naming six minutes or 10 points, sa doubles eight minutes or 12 points, at sa team nga ay yung 10 minutes or 16 points. Pero sa finals, balik kami sa standard time at points,” Infanta added.
WHY INCLUDE BOCCE?
Meanwhile, emerald para-games head coach Rhoda Acupido said the bocce ball competition serves as an opportunity for their SPED learners to socialize, develop motor skills, and gain confidence. She said Bocce has therapeutic effects in encouraging the para-gamers to stimulate their mind and body coordination while aiming for the lead ball.
And upon watching one game, I witnessed the unseen face of the CAVRAA Paralympics. I saw athletes who give little care to the medals or honors, but ones who just enjoyed playing the game, while genuinely following the rules with proper discipline and sportsmanship – a sight that DepEd always envisions our young athletes to exhibit.
Seeing the joy in their faces, I came to realize that playing bocce for Isabeleno para-lympiads is a personal treatment – a joyful mind game, more than a competition of pressure for the prized golden souvenirs.
JENNIFER S. GANNOD
Isabela continues its dominant outing in throwing events as two Cordon natives unleashed monster throws to hand Isabela two more golds in the ongoing Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association (CAVRAA) meet in the City of Ilagan.
Palarong Pambansa 2023 bronze medalist Jerome Lee Balagkit of Cordon National High School remained as Cagayan Valley’s top dog in javelin throw men’s division after registering 52.07 meters in his third attempt to elbow his way upward in the rank over his reeling rivals Nueva Vizcaya who recorded 50.89 meters and Quirino who put up 48 meters.
As a coach and trainer, aside from the physical routines during ground training, I helped Jerome to mentally and emotionally train himself through self-internalization and recollection, leading him to keep on hold of his dreams and goal and focus on what he wants to achieve.
According to Joel Dela Cruz, Balagkit’s coach, the Local Government Unit of Cordon, along with the school community of CNHS, provided the necessary support to ensure the success of the 16-year old athlete.
“As a coach and trainer, aside from the physical routines during ground training, I helped Jerome to mentally and emotionally train himself through self-internalization and recollection, leading him to keep on hold of his dreams and goal and focus on what he wants to achieve,” Dela Cruz said.
On the other hand, two-time CAVRAA meet qualifier Lea Bayachan of Wigan Integrated School, a last mile school in Cordon, Isabela, will have a chance to seal her first-ever Palarong Pambansa berth after lodging a commanding record of 34 meters over her closest foe from Nueva Vizcaya who settled for 30 meters.
“Masaya po ako sa pagkakapanalo ko rito sa CAVRAA meet. Naniniwala ako na ang aking palagiang pananalangin ay malaking bagay sa aking pagkakapanalo,” the 16-year old athlete said.
Meanwhile, Gringo Guman and Jhorel Steve Salcedo, Bayachan’s coach and trainer, respectively, described the female champion as a determined and resilient athlete.
Futhermore, Rufino Bibat, sports focal person for secondary of SDO Isabela, said that Balagkit and Bayachan both met the javelin throw standards and will have a shot at the Palarong Pambansa in Cebu this June.
sabela Team leads the medal count with 27 gold, 16 silver and 27 bronze, with two more days left before the final closing of the 2024 Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association Meet held at the City of Ilagan Sports Complex, April 26-30.
Based on the official medal tally updates of the DepEd Region 02- Regional Games Results and Records Committee as of April 28, Isabela keeps a narrow lead of four gold medals ahead of Nueva Vizcaya delegation with 23 gold haul, Santiago City with 17 gold,
The latest game results obtained by Chronicle at 11:05 a.m. (April 28) showed that the Emeralds pocketed 10 gold in athletics and 7 gold in swimming. Paralympics athletes, too, got 4 gold in
It is inspiring to see Isabela athletes worked as a team now getting closer to the ‘champion mindset’ as Elementary and
Tracing their gold medal contribution, Elementary Boys bagged 4 gold, Elementary Girls had earned 6 gold, Secondary Boys obtained 5 gold, and Secondary Girls got 8. They surpassed all gold medal earning of their counterparts: Batanes, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, Tuguegarao, Ilagan City, Cauayan City, and
While the hopes of gaining back the overall plum is high, the SDO powerhouse keeps reminding the coaches to focus on the gameplan, and less on the medal harvest. They have to sustain an organized and systematic process in meeting up the needs of the to ensure the goal of the regional Palaro.
SDO Training Teams led by Division Sports Coordinator Manolo Y. Bagunu made early forecast that Isabela delegates will make a stronger comeback as he looked into the intense training regimens implemented by SDO Isabela a month prior to the CAVRAA
According to EPS Bagunu, the display of good performance which yielded Isabela at number 1 rank in medal tally is a product of the SDO Isabela’s adoption of interdisciplinary approach of training athletes and coaches, lengthening the training period, and providing athletes
They keep to sustain this improvement not the redemption of the crown but also towards the improvement of sports management specially during training of
The numbers and statistics this CAVRAA Meet is seemingly favorable to Isabela Team which shows evidence that the power of collaboration between the DepEd SDO Isabela and the Provincial Government of Isabela (PGI) has paid off giving inspiration to all the delegates to gain the strongest foothold in the 2024 Cagayan
VERGIL ACE B. DELA PEÑA
Rookie set of Isabeleño V-ballers upset Ilaguenos, 2-1, in Game 5 of Volleyball Secondary Boys eliminations at the grandstand of Ilagan Sports Complex during the second day of the Cagayan Valley Regional Athletic Association (CAVRAA) meet, April 27.
Isabela contingents from Munoz National High School shocked the crowd of spectators of the host city with their debut of spike-andblocks that brought the latter to the ranking disadvantage.
Though faced with a 25-21 hurdle in the first set, the emerald athletes unleashed the defenseoffense tandem of Jose Robert D. Papas and Virgel A. Padilla that kept the opponents kneeling for the ball, 25-18.
Very rewarding po kasi lahat ng pinagpaguran namin, lahat po ng trainings at pagsusumikap namin ay nadala namin sa laro at naipapanalo po namin.
Vigored with the newfound leverage, Papas, the team’s open spiker, led the emeralds with his two fake spanks coupled with the five-consecutive triple-man blocks to deflate the Ilagan team sealing the game, 2-1 for Isabela.
“Very rewarding po kasi lahat ng pinagpaguran namin, lahat po ng trainings at pagsusumikap namin ay nadala namin sa laro at naipapanalo po namin,” Papas said in the postgame interview.
The Grade 10 team leader also claimed that in-game communication helped them improvise their plays - a lesson they learned from years of silver medal mining in the lower meets.
Meanwhile, Volleyball Secondary level Tournament Director Val Menardo Basilio said games are set from six to nine in the morning, and 4:00 p.m. onwards to protect the athletes from extreme heat. He also reminds spectators to bring water and stay hydrated to avoid health concerns.
Sampung taon na nga akong nagko-coach. Sobrang hirap talaga. Kaya lang kailangan nating magtiis para sa mga bata. Gusto kong maramdaman nila na hindi sila special. Sila ay mga normal na mag-aaral.
Labi L. Upam
Tuwang-tuwa ako at sa wakas eh hindi na kami saling-pusa!
This is the line that struck me the most in my 10 years of doing interviews and gathering stories for the Isabela Chronicle. A simple line as others may see, but this is a manifestation that the Department of Education (DepEd) is taking bolder steps into solidifying inclusivity, even in the Palarong Pambansa.
According to Rhoda Acupido, Isabela Paralympics Head Coach and a SPED teacher from San Manuel Central School, she was overjoyed upon hearing that Para Games results will be officially included in the CAVRAA meet 2024 Medal Tally – finally.
“Sampung taon na nga akong nagko-coach. Sobrang hirap talaga. Kaya lang kailangan nating magtiis para sa mga bata. Gusto kong maramdaman nila na hindi sila special. Sila ay mga normal na mag-aaral,” teacher Roda explains.
For other coaches, sports trophies represent their victory and success. But for teacher Rhoda, their mere inclusion as an official game in the biggest sporting event in the country is more than just a trophy. It is a symbol of the challenges, commitments, and sacrifices. And bagging even just a medal represents the pinnacle of their battle of being part of the mainstream sports and the result of their hard work and constant commitment.
MENDING DIVIDES
The inclusion of Paralympics in the DepEd’s sporting events is aligned with the programs of the department of promoting social change by bridging gap born out of differences in individual skills and capabilities.
As teacher Rhoda has repeatedly stated, the activity helps her learners overcome language, physical and social barriers. And with this, they feel part of a nation that gives importance and accepts all people, regardless of race, culture, color and now mental and physical conditions.
“Nakatutulong sa mga mag-aaral namin sa SPED kapag ganitong nakakahalubilo sila ng mga normal na manlalaro. Naipakikita nila na kung ano ang kayang gawin ng mga normal na atleta ay nagagawa rin ng mga mag-aaral natin na may mga special needs,” Acupido said.
REVITALIZING INCLUSIVITY
The provision of DepEd Order No. 44 s, 2021 has built a strong foundation as learners try to collaborate, regardless of their issues and differences. Aligned with this, CAVRAA meet 2024 ensures that learners with disabilities are included in mainstream or general education classes.
Like the emerald athletes under the baton of Teacher Rhoda, they were identified, now accepted in the meet and had shown that differences could still be respected. With the facilitation of the technical officials, it is guaranteed that all types of athletes play together in a welcoming environment.
Teacher Rhoda shares that for the first time, her team was able to join the intensive training program for Isabeleño athletes. Although it was very difficult for the whole team as she describes, she was happy to note that they were given equal importance as other emerald warriors receive.
Their contribution to the gold medal harvest of the mighty green athletes in their quest of bringing home the over-all championship is a bold step in making sure that inclusivity is felt. This does not only ensure that athletes who will bag medals are recognized but it guarantees that they are part of a bigger community that breaks barriers in bolstering inclusivity.
LABI UPAM