LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte (PIA) — New opportunity rises for young Ilokano athletes with the opening of the first pole vault pit in Ilocos Norte.
Donated by two-time Filipino olympian EJ Obiena, the facility, which is located at the track inside the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium, will be free of use for interested athletes.
On Friday, Nov. 22, Obiena and Governor Matthew Marcos Manotoc led the ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the pole vault pit.
According to Obiena, the opening of the facility is his dream come true, as it aims to encourage young athletes to try the sport to cultivate more homegrown athletes.
“In the long time that I’ve been active as an athlete, there’s pretty much two ways to be globally competitive in any sport that we do; one is to recruit athletes outside the Philippines with a Filipino heritage; nothing wrong with that; that’s one way of doing things. The one, a bit closer to myself, is to develop in our own backyard, and that’s why I’m doing all of this, and it is why I’m pushing local government units to open the stadiums and let the kids have a place to train,” he said.
Obiena is hopeful that the province can produce a pole vault champion with the help of the facility he gave for the province.
Manotoc assured that the provincial government will maintain the facility so it can be used for a long time by athletes not only from the province but also in the entire Region 1.
“Let it be known that for certain days and time, we will allow all the kids in Ilocos Norte to access the stadium and use the facility for free,” Manotoc added.
During the opening ceremony, Obiena guided some athletes to try the facility, including Francheska Hanna Bogaoisan, an athlete from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU).
“I am a high jumper athlete from the CAS [College of Arts and Sciences]. I am excited that we have this because this is a great opportunity for me and now I have exposure to the sport. Maybe I can try it in the future,” she said. (AMB/EJFG, PIA Ilocos Norte)
