One hundred forty five student athletes and 72 coaches, assistant coaches, chaperone, and officials compose the Samar State University (SSU) team to represent the school in the annual inter collegiate sports competition within Region VIII, the State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) in Naval, Biliran from October 23-28, 2016. The delegation is headed by the university president, Dr. Marilyn D. Cardoso together with university key officials. 10 other competing colleges and universities join the said event namely; Eastern Samar State University (ESSU), Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU), Leyte Normal University (LNU), Northwest Samar State University (NwSSU), Southern Leyte State University (SLSU), Palompon Institute of Technology (PIT), University of the Philippines- Tacloban Colleges (UP-TC), Visayas State University (VSU), University of Eastern Philippines (UEP), and, of course, Naval State University (NSU) who serves as the host of this year SCUAA.
SCUAA is one of the sports associations of the country and Region VIII SCUAA is just one of the satellites of the organization. In this event, a wide variety of indoor and outdoor sports are competed and gold, silver, and bronze medals are aspired. However, one goal remains pursued amidst competition, to develop sportsmanship among student athletes and create stronger amity among state colleges and universities.
“Grow higher, faster, stronger” serves as this year’s SCUAA theme and to launch this event, a holy mass has been offered to bless the occasion with genuine peace, unity, and camaraderie. The celebrant of the mass hopes and prays that athletes may find humility in winning and losing. A vibrant town parade followed with various color representations from participating universities. The opening program subsequently came next, thereafter. Dr. Matias Bentor Jr., Officer-In-Charge, office of the President of the host university in his welcome address said, “SCUAA creates stronger bonds as one region. Sports bring us together.” He, further, said that “Winning doesn’t make us better persons but how we’ve won and humbled ourselves in winning.” Furthermore, the statement of the Keynote Speaker, Hon. Gerardo Espina Jr., Mayor of Naval, is analogous to that of the NSU President. “The challenge of a sportsman is not how to win but how to compete. Great things come from small beginnings,” he said in a statement. Indeed, sports bring everyone to higher grounds of discipline, faster terrain of honesty, and stronger arena of friendship and camaraderie, hence, a growing process. Asked what will he give to SSU, Andy Del Rosario, center of the basketball team answered, “Win or lose, I (we) will give my (our) best for SSU.”
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