To further strengthen the country's sports development program, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) revived the Batang Pinoy. Put on hold for eight years, the Batang Pinoy has been designed to discover athletes outside the schools, 15 years old and below.
The Batang Pinoy 2011 is held in partnership with the Department of Education(DepEd), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Leagues of Provinces, Cities, Municipalities and Barangays. The Philippine Olympic Commission (POC) and the various national sports associations shall run and oversee the technical management and event.
The games will begin with the Mindanao league on October 27-30 in Zamboanga City. It will be followed by four more regional leagues- Visayas(Dumaguete City on Nov, 10-13), Northern Luzon (Baguio City on Nov. 24-27), National Capital Region (at the University of Makati on Nov. 29-Dec.2) and Souhern Luzon (Sta. Cruz, Laguna on Dec. 4-7). The National Championship is slated in Naga City, Camarines Sur on December 10-13.
More than 2,000 athletes are expected to participate in the Mindanao league. Young athletes representing their provinces, cities or municipalities will compete in archery, arnis, athletics, badminton, 3-on-3 basketball, boxing chess, judo, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.
High performing athletes in Batang Pinoy 2011 shall undergo high level trainign for three years in preparation for the second Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China in 2014.
