Southeast Asian Olympic leaders have allowed the creation of the region’s first Southeast Asian Plus Youth Games in 2028, dedicated to multi-sporting competitions for youth athletes.
The biennial event is set to be opened to athletes aged 17 and under, and is scheduled to take place at least a year before the Asian Youth Games (AYG), which aims to pool talents from the said event and the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
“The SEA Plus YG is Southeast Asia’s answer to molding athletes at the grassroots level, making them competitive at the AYG level and capable of winning medals at the YOG,” shared Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who will also serve as the founding president of the said inaugural event.
The “Plus” in the event’s title refers to inviting at least one Asian national Olympic committee from another zone for each of the games, to introduce more competition to the event.
Tolentino has also announced that nine of eleven Southeast Asian countries have already committed to the project, including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Timor Leste, and the Philippines, with the latter serving as the inaugural host of the event.
The Southeast Asian Plus Youth Games sports program will include two mandatory sports, 12 Olympic sports, a maximum of five Asian non-Olympic sports, and one traditional sport with up to six medal events.
For more information and updates, visit the Philippine Olympic Committee official Facebook page.