Opening Remarks by Rev. Fr. Ferdinand L. Bautista At the WNCAA 40th Year Celebration

WNCAA Officers, officials of the various schools, coaches, trainers, special guests, athletes, sports lovers, friends, ladies and gentlemen. Good Afternoon.

Please allow me to extend my warmest welcome to all of you who have come far and wide to share an astonishing array of talents in the 2009 WNCAA sports competition.

Today we add a legacy, a sense of community, belonging and tradition, as we celebrate the WNCAA 40th Season.

It is important for us to come together as a community of sports enthusiasts.  This is a challenge that goes beyond the need for sports…it is the need for women power and unity in the field of sports, hence the theme ‘Women Power and Unity at 40.’

Dear athletes, you are at the forefront of these games.  Give these games the magic that we all desire.  Compete in a spirit of fair play, mutual understanding and respect.
Remember, too, that you are the role models for the Filipino women of this nation and of the world.  Make us proud of your achievements and your conduct.  As one sportsman said, ‘Sports do not only build character; they reveal character!’

Let’s likewise remember that ‘What counts in sports is not the glory, the winning, nor the victory, but the significance of the struggle.’

Athletes of the WNCAA 40th SEASON, show us that through sports women can demonstrate power with dignity coupled with responsibility.  Our nation and the world today need athletes like you who can inspire women athletes.

As we bring the WNCAA 40th celebration to life, allow me to thank the officers of the Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association, for giving us the opportunity to host this year’s celebration.  The pleasure is indeed ours.

Our special thanks g to God Almighty for making things happen as planned and for making the heavy load light for all of us from the inception to its fruition.  Our thanks also go to the thousands of gracious volunteers: faculty, the non-teaching personnel of Angelicum College, trainers, our friends from the Media, without whom none of these would have been made possible.

Let us enjoy these spectacular opening rites and relish the thought that we are ONE in celebrating the WNCAA 40th SEASON.