Group promotes local sports through Shatong Tournament

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu youth from different schools came together to play the Filipino game shatong at a competitive level in the 3rd KCT Sports and Tourism Tournament held at Camp Lapu-Lapu, Cebu City.

Twelve teams participated in the Shatong Tournament. In earlier events, the KCT Sports and Tourism Foundation (KCT-STF) organized Chinese garter and takyan (a game similar to sipa). 

According to Anna Karenina Tan, president of KCT-STF, the organization aims to promote local sports to Filipino kids to encourage them to be mentally and physically active. (READ: A 7-day active lifestyle for your child)

“Our advocacy is to help our kids familiarize themselves with the local sports that we use to play before,” said Tan.

Karenina with her husband Kaiser Tan founded the organization in 2014.

As they travelled around the world, the couple was inspired by how other countries supported their local sports. This gave them an idea to come up with an organization that promotes Filipino games.

In their first year, they conducted 3 local sport tournaments and foresaw “bato lata” as the next local sport to be played in 2016.

Tan believes the event helped the youth in developing teamwork and camaraderie, and should be given priority especially in this modern era where the existence of gadgets, social networks, and online games distract a lot of children. (READ: Why you should take a closer look at your child’s playtime)

Teamwork as key

“Don’t be bothered even if your opponent is bigger than you. All you need to have is teamwork,” Bonnie M. Canencia, a grade 6 student of Cordova Central Elementary School who was team captain of the winning group, said.

Canencia’s team won P15,000. Banilad National High School, which came in second, got P10,000 and the Babag National High School, ranked third, got P5,000.

Canencia said the technique for winning is teamwork. For a team to win, he added, it is necessary to have faith in your teammates and in yourself.

“We decided to have faith with each other. No arguments. All we did was to trust each other.” he emphasized.

Tan hopes the organization can extend their scope so they can reach kids living in rural communities and encourage them to be more involved in local sports. – Rappler.com

Apple Grace Danuco is a Rappler mover in Cebu.