Kiteboarding, a fast-growing water sport which has yet to hit mainstream, might become a source of medals for the Philippines in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.
This will be one of the objectives of the ICTSI Kiteboarding Tour, which kicks off in Cuyo Island in Palawan on Nov. 24 to 26 with over 160 participants across 20 countries.
Other destinations penciled for the tour organized by Philippine Kiteboarding Association (PKA) are Bantayan Island, Cebu, on Jan. 13 to 15, Boracay Island on Feb. 3 to 5 and Cagbalete Island in Quezon on March 3 to 5.
“Now that the sport is in the Youth Olympics, this competition will be a perfect staging ground in discovering fresh talents,” said PKA head Jay Ortiz during yesterday’s presser at Mango Tree in Taguig.
The competition features three different fields of discipline—race, freestyle and hangtime—where kiteboarders in the kids, novice, men’s and women’s division and master class will compete for medals.
“It’s only a matter of time before we get to discover the next Onyok Velasco and Hidilyn Diaz from our ranks,” said Ortiz.