CEBU, Philippines – A variety of sporting events will usher in the annual town fiesta of Consolacion in honor of its beloved patron St. Narciso. The sportsfest will formally kick off with a grand opening ceremony on September 12 at the Sta. Lucia grounds.
The centerpiece of the two-month tilt is the basketball tournament billed as the "Mayor Alegado Cup Fiesta League" to be participated in by 21 barangays divided into five clusters.
The Sangguniang Kabatan (SK) category will head by SK Federation president Madel Hyacinth Herrera, while the Association of Barangay Council (ABC), inter-barangay, and invitational class will be supervised by sports commissioner Paul Alelu Q. Flores, a former star guard of the FEU Tamaraws during his UAAP stint.
A total of eight teams will see action in the invitational category, which will follow a double round robin elimination format. The champion will take home P50,000, while the runner-up will pocket P20,000.
To further make the competition more exciting and for the welfare of the athletes, the local government under the dynamic leadership of Mayor Teresa P. Alegado and vice mayor Aurelio Damole has shelled out P150,000 for the renovation of the Consolacion Sports Complex.
There will also be teams for municipal hall employees, lay ministers and priests.
"Aside from encouraging our youth to stay away from drugs and other illegal vices while at the same time espousing in them a healthy physical well-being through sports, we also want to foster unity and fellowship among all sectors in our municipality," said Mayor Alegado in a statement.
Aside from basketball, there will also be a soccer invitational league, 'dayon-dayon' volleyball and boxing promotion.
Soccer will be handled by Engr. Nilo A. Ferraren, who is also the committee chairman on games and amusements, with Ryan Villegas as commissioner, dayon-dayon volleyball will be spear-headed by the Sangguniang Bayan members with Camie Go as commissioner, while the boxing card will be assembled by councilors Luis Melendres, Jr. and Rod Maloy.
Councilor Julius P. Alegado, the municipal council's committee chairman on tourism, is the president of the Fiesta Executive Committee. (FREEMAN)