Summer of Preparation

When summer sports was the norm, the most common competition would be the summer leagues of local towns, whether at fiestas or the overused “Mayor’s Cup” tournaments all over the country. The summer was always the perfect time to organize all those basketball tournaments that were too tight to hold during the schoolyear and were thus always postponed or canceled.

But we are so glad today that the summer of the past decade has been more productive than ever. The summer sports competitions these days have now made their way to become regularly calendared events in the sports timelines for the more progressive sports organizations. The school-based basketball scene kicked off its summer in Manila with the Fr. Martin Cup and Filoil Preseason tournaments featuring both UAAP and NCAA schools in one league. And now we can add the CESAFI to that with the entry of Southwestern University. What was once a simple league used to “gain exposure” is now a legitimate big league that is now treated as a full blown tournament by the schools playing. At yesterday’s opening of the Filoil tournament, SWU went up against no less than Ateneo de Manila University. The Cobras are the first ever Cebu-based team to join this tournament. Win or lose, it’s a great opportunity for SWU to be exposed to the UAAP and NCAA teams. There is so much to learn and appreciate from the Manila teams. There’s practically nothing to lose for the Cobras who now become instant pre-tournament favorites to win the CESAFI basketball title for a second straight year. It’ll be interesting to see how SWU matches up against its Group B foes in Ateneo, University of the East, San Sebastian College, De La Salle, University of Sto. Tomas, Letran, Lyceum, Arellano and Emilio Aguinaldo College. But that’s not it. Aside from the Filoil and Fr. Martin tournaments, the summer also sees some school-based teams or their players playing in the PBA D-League. Can SWU be far behind and play for a Lhuillier team in the PBA D-League? I sure hope the CESAFI doesn’t punish them for this. If other UAAP or NCAA teams play as a team in the PBA D-League, why can’t we?

Cebu has its own pre-season tournament in the CESAFI Partners’ Cup which also kicks off today. But with SWU in Manila, it will turn out to be an all-UV show this summer with everybody else fighting for second place. The big question here is which team will benefit from their summer activities: SWU or UV? My personal wish is that the CESAFI teams find a higher level type of competition so that they can grow as a league. They should raise the level of play by mixing in tougher teams composed of ex-commercial/pro players who can give the college teams a serious challenge. Playing against the same faces all year round won’t help much except get to know the opposition more. It’s playing on the same level and isn’t raising the bar. We all know how a team can grow if it faces older, tougher and more seasoned teams, don’t we?

The biggest edge that Manila has over Cebu is that the summer also includes inter high school tournaments. In fact, there are three tournaments for the Juniors division: Fr. Martin, Filoil and FCBL, all being held at the same time. Thanks to creative scheduling and a gentleman’s agreement among all not to mix up schedules, everyone is happy with all the competitive exposure they get. I mean how can you not learn from playing in three leagues against some of the best teams in the country? The Cebu high school scene is practically dead. While the CVIRAA team plays in the Palarong Pambansa, there’s no other team playing in a high level tournament in the Under 17 age group. This is where the different high school teams looks for all kinds of games or tournaments to join. They play friendlies in the probinsya, join summer leagues of towns or barangays or join any privately established summer tournaments. Kicking off next week is the Coca Cola PBA Youngstars Basketball tournament featuring 13-16 year old players from ten teams. The CYBL will also hold its annual Vismin Goodwill Games for the SBP and Passerelle age groups, with visiting teams coming from Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo and Manila.

Call it a summer or preparation then. Instead of just wasting time playing ball, today’s teams now use the summer for a more worthwhile purpose: to prepare for the coming season.

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Time-out: Join the BEST basketball clinic sponsored by Milo, May 6-11 at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu. For more info, look up BEST Center Sports Cebu in Facebook. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].