DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 Oct) – Universities and colleges in Davao City are encouraged to strengthen sports scholarship grants for the less fortunate students who want to proceed tertiary education, a city councilor said.
During the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum on Thursday at the SM City Davao, Councilor Mabel Sunga Acosta, committee chair on education, said there are students who cannot afford college education but who possess great potentials to excel in sports.
The councilor, who has been organizing the 12th Acosta Cup, a football tournament exclusive for women, added they want to make use of sports as a tool to help the poor families in the city send their children to school.
The football tournament kicked off October 10 and ongoing until November 22 at the Tionko Football Grounds here, with six teams competing – PCT Khanj, UP Mindanao Football Club, SOYA Football Club, Punta-DDS, Nakamata Kickers, and Aguilas Dabaw Football Club.
Acosta said they are focusing on football because this serves as an equalizer to all sports, having no requirement in terms of equipment, terrain where participants can play, and height.
She added the football cup focuses on women athletes because there’s still such no sports event that highlights an all-women team, considering that the sport remains to be a world dominated by men.
“Ever since, there’s still no sports devoted for women. When we say sports, it’s already given that it is dominated by men,” she said in Cebuano.
“There’s no age limit because we want to promote camaraderie among the athletes,” she added.
Organizers also opened the game to non-school-based groups to give others an equal opportunity to participate in sports.
“This is not only school-based. They are happy because they have developed their skills. Sports has become shelter for discipline. There are coaches who tell their teams to do good in school so that they will be allowed to participate in the practices,” she said.
