The week ahead will be a busy one for the local sports media and enthusiasts with the staging of the National Private Schools Athletic Association Games in Bacolod City on May 9-16.
About 12,000 athletes, coaches and other team officials from all 17 regions outside of Metro Manila are expected to participate in the meet, which was held in Tuguegarao City last year.
The National PRISAA Meet returns to Bacolod City after 22 years.
The opening of the games will be held at the Panaad Park and Stadium in Bacolod City on Saturday, May 9, at 5 p.m. with performances by selected private higher institutions in Negros Island Region.
The PRISAA Games will be played in both tertiary and secondary levels. Athletes will see action in more than 20 sports disciplines.
The disciplines include baseball (men and boys), softball (women and girls), football (men and boys), 5×5 and 3×3 basketball, beach volleyball, speak takraw, volleyball;
Archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, billiards, chess, gymnastics, dance sports, karatedo, swimming, table tennis, lawn tennis and weightlifting.
The Negros Occidental Provincial Government, which allocated a P10 million funding assistance for the games, is hosting the national competition with the Bacolod City government as co-host.
STI-West Negros University, under President Dr. Ryan Mark Molina, is the host school. Dr. Molina also heads the National PRISAA Board.
The PRISAA Meet is the second major national inter-collegiate games held in Bacolod City in the last seven months. In late October, the Philippines National University Games was also held in various venues in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.
The 2026 competition is themed, “Sustaining the Country’s Inclusive Grassroots Sports Program as a Pathway to the Olympics”. The theme encapsulates the PRISAA goal of discovering sports talents who will represent the country in the Olympics, Dr. Molina said.
The annual event also features academic events (Oration and Brainmasters), PRISAAYAWAN and the selection of the Mutya Ng PRISAA.
Overseeing the media publicity operations is Ma’am Abigail Antonio of the STI-WNU Admissions Office.
The visiting athletes and their officials will be billeted in various public schools in the city.
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We welcome the merry month of May with great anticipation despite the constant threat of extreme heat. And what a way to start the month than to celebrate World Laughter Day – on May 3.
The observance was started in Mumbai, India in 1998 through the Worldwide Laughter Yoga, which considers laughter “a positive and powerful emotion that has all the ingredients required for individuals to master themselves” and “provides both physiological and psychological benefits to people.”
Lord Byron’s thought sums up the great value of laughter in our lives when he wrote: “Always laugh when you can. It’s cheap medicine.”
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A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22) | NWI
