Sports destination: Lapu-Lapu City

Hosting the recent Davis Cup qualifiers for the second time this year is just the tip of the iceberg for Lapu-Lapu City. The city has major long-term plans to accelerate its transformation into an international destination for sporting events. And it’s spearheaded by a youthful first-time councilor who finally decided to join the political fray and advance an ambitious agenda for sports.

“I think it’s only fitting, since we are named after the country’s first hero, so we should be a home for modern-day heroes,” says Councilor Harry Radaza, chairman of the city committee on sports and youth. “We are partnering with stakeholders in tourism through sports to help them help us launch our programs. We are then using that as leverage to help kickstart our grassroots programs.”

Radaza, son of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and incumbent Congressman Arturo Radaza, convinced Plantation Bay Resort to invest in a world-class tennis court, while he scraped together the resources to get portable bleachers for the city. Those components, along with the help of Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) president and tennis player John Pages, made it easy to bring in the Davis Cup. The success of that pilot endeavor has encouraged Radaza to convince other big resorts in the city to invest in similar facilities for other sports.

His second landmark construction was the the Hoops Dome, a massive, 12,000-seat, fully air-conditioned basketball gymnasium sitting on a large open property within the city. A four-year project, the Hoops Dome has already hosted the Pinoy Pride boxing series of ALA Promotions (rent-free and tax-free), social gatherings, and a special musical performance by boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. It will be the venue for a regular-season PBA game between the Petron Blaze and Alaska Aces on Nov. 5. Radaza, himself a former basketball player, is hoping that since he built it, he’s hoping sporting events will come to Lapu-Lapu.

But edifices are far from being the sole agenda of Radaza. He is also establishing the Lapu-Lapu Oty Tennis Academy, through which he will provide coaches’ training for volunteers assigned by each barangay captain in the city. After six months, he will stage an inter-barangay tennis tournament with the help of private sponsors.

“We are using the impetus of an international event such as the Davis Cup as a launching pad for a community-based tennis tournament, and we are hoping to do this for other sports,” Radaza explained at a workshop this week celebrating Press Freedom Week in Cebu City.

Next on Radaza’s program is the establishment of a comprehensive city-wide, year-round running program. The city will charge a mere P200 as entry fee not just for one race, but for a series of races. Residents may join for free. He plans to have the races staged in adjacent barangays to pull in residents for neighboring areas to keep on running. In his earlier attempts at this, Radaza realized a 20-30 percent increase in the number of both paying and non-paying runners, creating a fun, snowball effect.

“Because of the scheme, we saw a lot of fishermen, tricycle drivers and jeepney drivers running, and they got hooked,” Radaza says. “And when they get into the habit of running, it increases the base from which we may get runners for various competitions, as well.”

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Speaking of local governments plunging headlong into sports, the local government of San Mateo, Rizal had an overflow number of registrants in its “SeptembeRun + Bike” event held yesterday morning along its own mountain bike trail. Races were held in 5K and 3K categories, with prizes given out by sponsors and the municipal government. Over 2,000 runners and mountain bikers entered the event, emceed by sports newscaster Snow Badua.

The event is just one of many sports programs planned by Mayor Jose Rafael “Kuya Paeng” Diaz and his wife, Tina. Diaz, an avid mountain bike racer, is bent on cementing San Mateo’s reputation as the mountain bike capital of the Philippines. Its rolling hills, vast expanses of open space and fresh air, breath-taking views and most importantly, its proximity to Metro Manila make it an ideal site for outdoor sports events and team-building activities.

Diaz is also constructing a gymnasium for indoor sports like basketball to develop San Mateo’s youth in various sports.