Filoil goes out-of-town, attracts five new teams

MANILA, Philippines - When the eighth season of the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup tips off on April 23 at the San Juan Arena, five college teams will be participating for the first time in the country’s most prestigious pre-season tournament.

Among the 43 squads – including 21 seniors, 10 women’s and 12 high school teams – the new comers in the tournament are CESAFI champion University of Visayas, University of San Carlos, and Southwestern University; Holy Trinity College of General Santos City; and NAASCU champion Centro Escolar University and St. Clare College. SWU participated in last year’s tournament.

According to Filoil tournament director Joey Guillermo, the addition of teams from the Visayas, Mindanao and NAASCU is part of a plan to expand the tournament across the archipelago. “Our plans for expansion began last season when we invited SWU,” said Guillermo. “We saw how well they played towards the end of Filoil and during the PCCL where they defeated La Salle. The exposure to top-flight competition helps. This year, we are continuing that expansion by not only adding new teams but also taking the games out of town.”

Reigning NCAA champion San Beda and UAAP champion La Salle will go on the road this May 22-25 to play matches in Cebu against the Cebu-based teams. “If the provincial teams are excited to play in Manila, so are the Manila schools excited to show what they can do in Cebu,” said La Salle team manager Raffy Villavicencio about the road matches.

Felix “Donbel” Belano, a 10-year PBA pro who is known for his lengthy stint with Talk n Text and is on his third year as coach of the USC Warriors, is excited about the upcoming Filoil tournament.

“It will help our team a lot  because we will get more exposure. We will be able to gauge the competitiveness of our team against other teams,” he said.

Holy Trinity Wildcats coach Pol Torrijos agrees with Belano’s outlook for the tournament, saying: “We are very honored to be invited to join Filoil. It will be a gauge for not only our team but also for our program as we will play against the best from all over the country. We have to learn from this experience.”