Newfoundland town holds first all-Filipino sports fest

Filipino community leaders Charlene Gould and Erwin Ponce hopes to jumpstart a community association with a sports meet.(John Gaudi/CBC)

NEWFOUNDLAND — The first all-Filipino sports meet in Happy Valley-Goose Bay started Sunday. The town in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada already has more than 300 Filipinos calling it home.

“We are so excited most of our fellow Filipinos are preparing for this,” Charylene Gould, a community leader told CBC News.

Basketball along with volleyball, billiards, badminton and darts will be among the competitions in the all-Filipino sports fest. ERWIN PONCE

Gould says many friends would come and watch the sports meet where men, women and teenagers will compete in friendly competitions of volleyball, basketball, badminton, darts and billiards.

“All the Filipinos here are so busy working. A sports meet like this is really great to see each other because we are working in different areas,” she added.

Filipino Association 

Erwin Ponce, a local resident for eight years, has been practicing his spikes and will compete in volleyball during the sports fest. Ponce and Gould are in the process of making the Filipino association official by registering the group.

“We are going that route, a more general association to cover the sports part, the cultural part, the arts part and any kind of activities that will handle the Filipino community here in Goose Bay,” Ponce told CBC News.