Mike does it again in R1AA
YES, Laoag City Mayor Mike Keon does it again in the recently concluded Region 1 Athletic Association (R1AA ) meet in La Union.
And I am not surprised.
Competing against much bigger provinces and cities, Laoag dominated anew the event, taking home 86 gold medals to go with 65 silvers and 60 bronzes to emerge overall champion , making it a back to back win after achieving it for the first time last year in Ilocos Norte.
For the record, the top five teams in the meet were Laoag, followed by Pangasinan I, 62-65-60, Pangasinan II, 54-52-66, Ilocos Norte, 46-53-59, and Ilocos Sur , 5-25-45.
Mike’s team struck in the gold-rich events of athletics, gymnastics, and swimming, and did well in the combat sports of taekwondo, wushu and arnis.
For me, I sure was expecting that kind of result in athletics, Mike’s favorite, as he had his former Gintong Alay head coach Tony Benson, overseeing the training for the middle to long distance while his hurdler champion Nonoy Unso oversaw the whole delegation’s training that started late last year.
In fact, the training period for Mike’s athletes this year was even longer as he knew his athletes will not have the home town advantage this time, unlike last year
And even as Mike said in our chat that he found this year harder than last year, ironically, the results were even more impressive as Laoag brought home more golds than before.
Last year, Laoag had a 79-53-68 gold-silver-bronze medal haul as compared to this year’s 86-89-63 collection, also, last year, the runnerup team, Pangasinan II finished 18 golds behind Laoag, this time, Mike’s champion team was 24 golds ahead of runner up Pangasinan .
To me, it simply means Mike’s athletes improved a lot from last year as the facts speak for themselves.
And let us face it the biggest factor is Mike himself, his long experience in sports administration and being an athlete himself, provide him with a lot of knowledge about sports, add his willingness to invest resources, time, and effort, I have been to Laoag a few times and I have seen Mike, even went with him a few times, visit and talk to his athletes and coaches in training.
I have also talked to the coaches he imports to train his team, many of them his former athletes and national coaches in different sports
That, believe me, is a winning formula that is hard to beat.
Remember, he also delivered in the past for Ilocos Norte in the same meet, winning 10 straight over all championships, basically using the same formula.
He believes Laoag has good chances of doing it for the third straight time next year in Candon, Ilocos Sur, saying all the coaches he got to train his athletes this year want to return again.
Though before that, Mike is eyeing the Palarong Pambansa in Laoag later this year, believing his athletes can also do well in that higher level meet.
Mike also shared something I have not heard from him before, he says that any competition, not just sports, help shape the values of young people and believing that, he invests not only in sports but in other forms of competition for his young constituents.
When I asked him what he is preparing for next, he showed his sense of humor telling me he is preparing for the election, which he is confident too that he can win.
I wish him luck.
Well, as I am writing this piece, it is three days away from my reaching my own milestone, on March 21, I celebrate the 7 decades that I have been in this world, and thankful for that.
I already had an advance celebration as our family, including my two older sisters with their own families, had a get together at El Avuelo, a nice forest resort in Baras , Rizal, our treat for them that included a dinner boodle fight. Just too bad I lost some money playing pusoy with people half my age.
Then this Wednesday night, my good friend Alex Wang of Wang’s Ball Club is tendering a birthday dinner in Han Pao in Mandaluyong, not just for me but for our staff at the Philippine Sports Commission, together with Fritz Gaston, who is also a long time friend of Alex..
I am looking forward too to Thursday, March 20 as some friends from the world of sports will be dropping by here at the PSC in the afternoon to join me in a small get together, some of them bringing food items for sharing.Bless them.
On my actual birthday on Friday, a simple family dinner maybe, then an overnight weekend in a suite room.in Victoria Court in Pasig with my wife and apo will complete my celebration this week.
Truly a lot of reasons to celebrate, a lot of blessings to be thankful for.
Happy Birthday to me.
