PADDLERS from various regions in Visayas and Mindanao are set to compete in the dragon boat race in Argao town in Cebu on October 1.
Coach Nonnie Lopez of Habagat-Paramount Dragon boat team said on Thursday that paddlers from Dumaguete, Bohol, Cagayan de Oro, and Bogo in Cebu are set to compete in the Men's Open, Mixed (men and women), and local barangay categories.
Lopez said each team will compose of 10 paddlers, a drummer and a steerer.
Jerome Mil of Go Active Marketing and Events Inc. (Game Inc.) said teams from 15 barangays of Argao will compete first in the local barangay category on September 24 to 25, adding that the top four winners will qualify on the October 1 race. A free dragon boat clinic will also be held on the said dates.
The "2nd Dragons in Argao: Dragon Boat Inter-barangay Clinic and Competition," which is organized and sponsored by Primary Homes Inc., will be held at Argao Royal Palms Serviced Villas in Barangay Suba from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Mil said the event will be capped off with fire dancers and tribal beaters in the evening of October 1.
Randy Su of Habagat-Paramount said that dragon boat racing in Cebu is still "in its infancy."
"We (Cebu) are only about a year into dragon boat racing. In fact, Cebu is the later entrant in the dragon boat scene. Nag-una pa ang Bohol sa ato-a, nag-una pa ang Dumaguete sa ato-a," Su said.
He said that Cebu has the perfect venue for dragon boat racing, as the province has the "perfect water and we have a lot of water enthusiasts. We all know nga duna na tay kayaking dinhi (sa Cebu) og highly developed na kaayo atong water sports."
Su, who is one of the commissioners of the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission, said he proposed to the Commission last year to develop the said water sport.
He said the Provincial Sports Commission gave the go signal to develop the sports, thus, exhibition races were held in Bogo, Mactan, and Danao City last year.
"The sports is really well appreciated well by Cebuanos," Su added. (Sunnex)