Tacloban City Division proved that its efforts are worthy and still fought a good fight as it earned once more the ‘Best in Uniform’ special award and settled for the third spot in this year’s Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) meet.

Securing 92 medals composed of 19 gold, 27 silver, and 46 bronze, “The Red Stallions” managed to demonstrate their skills and talents in their respective sports as they made it to the podium through camaraderie and determination. Last 2019, Tacloban City also received the said special award.

As co-host division of EVRAA, City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Judella R. Lumpas expressed her gleefulness for the amazing performance of the Tacloban athletes and extended her heartfelt gratitude for the support of the stakeholders.

Lumpas, in an interview, likewise recognized the good efforts of the local government unit headed by Mayor Alfred Romualdez ‘for the gesture of love and concern for the athletes’ and being instrumental in the successful staging of the regional sports event. LGU-Tacloban has allocated funds to support the 583-member delegation in terms of food, uniform, and other supplies including the PHP1 million budget for the incentives and prizes for the winners in various sports competitions.

“I’m sure preparation is very much important…for our ways forward, we will be preparing our athletes in coordination with the local sports office,” Lumpas said for them (athletes) ‘to improve even further and reach their full potential’ as she remains positive for the city division to reach a higher rank in the succeeding EVRAA tournament.

Meantime, Ormoc City Division accepted the challenge to host anew the EVRAA game in 2024 after making a grand slam entry this year with 178 gold, 104 silver, and 70 bronze medals. Leyte Division, on the other hand, took second place with 50 gold, 74 silver, and 55 bronze, as reflected on the overall summary of the final medal tally released by the Department of Education Region 8 on Thursday evening, April 27.

Bearing this year’s theme: “One Goal, One Heart, One Victory in Unity,” the EVRAA was able to gather over 5,000 student-athletes from the 13 school division offices in the region to participate in the meet. Sporting events include swimming, basketball, archery, baseball, volleyball, softball, football, sepak takraw, table tennis, badminton, billiard, chess, dance sports, gymnastics, arnis, wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, wushu, and the newly-introduced pencak silat.

To note, all the winning student-athletes of EVRAA will earn the honor of representing Eastern Visayas in the Palarong Pambansa to be held in July 2023 in Marikina City.