Volleyball overload

This will be a great weekend for volleyball in Cebu. If you are among those who are still very sorry that the volleyball event of the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) would not be held here, then this is one way of quenching your thirst for action.

Today, the Cebu Volleyball Bench Open Championship will open at the University of San Carlos Gymnasium.

The event will open at 8 am and there are a total of 19 teams participating for the men and women's divisions.

Many of the teams are not familiar to us who have been following what has been going around the volleyball community for the past 20 years. I however believe that this is one of the great news that we are hearing since the sport has really grown so much bigger.

Just a few years ago, the Cebu Volleyball Association (CEVA) organized the Cebu Open that drew several teams mostly from the schools. This time, there are not only the school teams, but several commercial and club teams that should make the tournament more interesting.

We are not exactly lacking in talent in Cebu. In fact we have so many players. What Cebu lacks are tournaments and this is now the solution that we have long been hoping for.

The tournament will run for two weekends. So, make room in your schedule to be able to watch the action at the USC Gym.

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The tournament at the USC Gym will not be only what is in store for the volleyball fans this weekend. The Cluster 6 tournament of the Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball (GUV) Cup will be played tomorrow at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

Action starts at 8:30 featuring the battle between Liloan and Lapu-Lapu City to be immediately followed by the game between Consolacion and host Mandaue City.

There are several more games that will follow for the rest of the day.

This is the last of the eliminations for the tournament that has taken volleyball in Cebu to another level.

The top two finishers in this cluster will join the top two teams from each of the five clusters that have already finished their eliminations in the championship set later this year.

There is not only prestige at stake here, but also big money with the champion team taking home P100,000, which I believe is the biggest-ever prize money for a tournament that does not feature international teams.

By the way, this is open free to the public so take the whole family with you to watch the action.

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Before I forget, there's one more volleyball event this weekend, the final day of action of the Tri-Medialympics at the Cebu City Sports Center.

After our team, The FREEMAN, won its first two assignments the other Sunday, we're hoping to make it to the championships again. There is still a battle to fight and we're hoping to come out victorious. Well, who plays to lose anyway?

This surely is a great weekend for volleyball. It will be far greater if our team reaches its goal of winning the title of the Tri-Medialympics.

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MILESTONE: Happy birthday to my compadre Renato 'Oly' Dychangco, Jr., the president of Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, who is turning a year older this Monday.

More power!