On August 24, the City of Victorias will conduct the largest obstacle course racing (OCR) challenge in the region, known as Sidlak OCR 2024. The event is brought about by the partnership between The Pilipinas Obstacle Sports Federation (POSF) and the City of Victorias in Negros Occidental to foster the growth of obstacle sports.
The partnership came after a fruitful campaign for the Filipinos at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where gymnast Carlos Yulo became the first double-gold winner of the country.
Honing future champions
Just like how Manila honed Yulo into becoming one of the world’s best athletes, the city aims to do the same and find the cream of the crop of the region.
“It is important to organize sports activities to hone homegrown athletes who can become future champions,” Victorias CIty Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said.
The national governing organization of obstacle racing, the POSF, and Victorias City inked a memorandum of arrangement (MOA) to launch a comprehensive obstacle sports program that will include training, seminars, and educational sessions as side events during the Sidlak OCR 2024.
In line with the city's mission to promote community health, wellbeing, and involvement via sports and physical activity, the cooperation also aims to advance sports tourism in Victorias.
Bringing more sports to the city
In addition, Benitez and Christine Ferrera, CEO of RaceYa, inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOA) for Benitez to handle digital solutions and other technical aspects of important athletic events in the city, such as the Sidlak OCR, Kalamayan Trail Run, and Kadalag-an Duathlon.
Meanwhile, the Victorias National High School was one of the first ten schools in the nation to include obstacle sports in the Physical Education curriculum, as announced last month.
