Cebu - Sans the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) teams, the third season of the Visayas Amateur Athletic Association (VAAA) men’s basketball tournament will kick off today with a double-header on tap at the Calape Sports Center in Calape, Bohol.
Games today
5 pm Opening
5:30 pm UB vs. ACT
7:30 pm BIT-IC vs. SCSIT
Prior to the hardcourt hostilities, a simple opening ceremony will take place at 5 pm to be graced by VAAA founder and legendary Cebuano coach Raul “Yayoy” D. Alcoseba.
In the season-opener at 5:30 pm, the University of Bohol (UB) will clash with the Asian College of Technology (ACT) Cyber Knights, while the Bohol Institute of Technology-International College (BIT-IC) Cruisers will battle the Salazar Colleges of Science and Institute of Technology (SCSIT) Skyblazers in the main match at 7:30 pm.
The following day still at the same, the four teams will swap opponents.
A total of eight teams are seeing action in the league sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and supported by M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala and Smart Communications.
The rest of the entries are Western Leyte College (WLC) Mustangs and AMA Computer Institute both of Ormoc City and the Asian College of Science and Technology (ACSAT) Lightnings and the Foundation University (FU) Greyhounds of Dumaguete City.
This marks for the first time that no CESAFI team is joining the VAAA. This is the offshot of the CESAFI Board’s resolution prohibiting its member schools from participating in the Visayas-wide cage league - a move called by Alcoseba as “very unselfish and inimical to the development of Cebu basketball.” – EBV (THE FREEMAN)