Palaro 2000 in Batanes

Life begins at 40. Here in Batanes, when you're 40 years old (or above) you could start your sports career and earn your spot in the limelight. The 40 years old and above category has been one of the attraction of the yearly sports event in Batanes, commonly known as the Community Meet where in any Ivatan is encouraged and given a chance to show his or her sports prowess and sportsmanship.
		File photo: Yellow Bird Team under the (vadichi) Balete tree after winning the 1994 softball championship game, above age 40 category.

This year, the event was held late last June such that the awarding ceremonies coincides with the Batanes Day Anniversary celebration.

Most of the events were categorized into two groups (39 years old & below and 40 years old & above) to accommodate both the youth and the Valuable Players (VPs) of the recent years.

Months before this yearly event, you normally see their players practicing their respective event(s) and their supporters raising funds to help their team. In Ivana, the local government organized a raffle draw where in businesses and individual donors donated bicycles, sacks of rice and even cash for the prices. First price for this year's draw was P10,000 pesos.

During the actual games, domination seems to be the rallying theme of the Sabtang delegation when their volleyball (men) team and their softball (women) garnered the first place in both categories.

Basco's Basketball team likewise got the top place in both categories.

Below is the summary of the categorized events. Other events are dodgeball and table tennis which are an open category.

Event	Rank		39 yrs old & below category			40 yrs old & above category
			Town	Points		Town	Points
Softball-Men	1st		Basco	30 points		Itbayat	30 points
	2nd		Itbayat	22 points		Uyugan	22 points
	3rd		Sabtang	15 points		Ivana	15 points
	4th		Uyugan	9 points		Basco	9 points
	5th		Mahatao	4 points		Sabtang	4 points
	6th		Ivana			Mahatao
Volleyball-Men	1st		Sabtang	30 points		Sabtang	30 points
	2nd		Uyugan	22 points		Basco	22 points
	3rd		Mahatao	15 points		Ivana	15 points
	4th		Ivana	9 points		Itbayat	9 points
	5th		Basco	4 points		Mahatao	4 points
	6th		Itbayat			Uyugan
Basketball-Men	1st		Basco	30 points		Basco	30 points
	2nd		Uyugan	22 points		Uyugan	22 points
	3rd		Mahatao	15 points		Mahatao	15 points
	4th		Itbayat	9 points		Sabtang	9 points
	5th		Ivana	4 points		Itbayat	4 points
	6th		Sabtang			Ivana
Softball-Women	1st		Sabtang	30 points		Sabtang	30 points
	2nd		Uyugan	22 points		Uyugan	22 points
	3rd		Basco	15 points		Ivana	15 points
	4th		Mahatao	9 points		Itbayat	9 points
	5th		Itbayat	4 points		Basco	4 points
	6th		Ivana			Mahatao
Volleyball-Women	1st		Basco	30 points		Uyugan	30 points
	2nd		Ivana	22 points		Sabtang	22 points
	3rd		Sabtang	15 points		Basco	15 points
	4th		Uyugan	9 points		Ivana	9 points
	5th		Itbayat	4 points		Itbayat	4 points
	6th		Mahatao			Mahatao