General Santos hosts Batang Pinoy from Oct 25-30

General Santos City will host the Philippine National Youth Games, or Batang Pinoy, from October 25 to 30 this year.

Philippine Sports Commission chair Richard Bachmann highlighted the importance of identifying future national team members during a forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The games are open to youth athletes aged 17 and below and will feature over 10,000 participants competing in 27 sports disciplines, including boxing where world champions like Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire Jr. emerged.

Gymnastics and weightlifting will also be part of the competition, with Olympic gold medalists Carlos Yulo and Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo representing the country's excellence in these sports.

Other popular sports include arnis, badminton, chess, futsal, judo, karate, volleyball, and wushu, among others.

PSC officials such as Dindin Urquiaga, Rachel Dumuk, Caroline Tobias, Gloria Quintos, and Roselle Destura were present at the event launch to support the initiative.