Soccer, frisbee to spice up beach volley qualifying event

CEBU, Philippines - Beach soccer, frisbee and poi dance make up the list of exciting sidelights in the Visayas eliminations of the 15th Nestea Beach Volley set from March 9 to 11 at the HK Beach Resort in the southern Cebu town of Moalboal.

Tournament director Ricky Ballesteros said they are doing this not only to attract more spectators but also to promote beach sports in the province.

“Aside from volleyball, we also would like to promote other beach games. It is also our aim to encourage the private sector to come up with this kind of tournament," said Ballesteros.

Four teams each have already confirmed their participation in beach soccer and frisbee.

Meanwhile, a total of 24 teams will see action in the three-day qualifying event.

Leading the cast of title contenders are reigning CESAFI champion Danika Yolanda Gendrauli and Princess Anne Pido of Southwestern University in the women's division and Jade Becaldo and Mike Abria of the University of the Visayas in the men's bracket.

The other participating squads from Cebu are the University of San Carlos (USC), University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), University of Cebu (UC), Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU) and the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF).

They will be challenged by out-of-town entries that include Foundation University (FU) of Dumaguete City, University of San Agustin (USA)-Iloilo, University of Negros Oriental-Recoletos (UNO-R), University of St. La Salle-Bacolod, Central Philippines University (CPU) and Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion-Iloilo.

The top two finishers in each division will earn tickets to the Nestea Beach Volley National Finals slated from April 19 to 21 at the Crystal Sand in Boracay Island.

The national champion will pocket P100,000, while the second and third placers will take home P65,000 and P35,000. The fourth will receive P22,500. (FREEMAN)