CEBU, Philippines - The top officials of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. led by their president Fr. Manny Uy, SJ of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu formally launched the 13th CESAFI season yesterday with a promise of an even bigger, grander and more exciting showcase of athletic skills from Cebu's premiere inter-school league.
"We look forward to a bigger and more exciting CESAFI season," said commissioner Felix "Boy" O. Tiukinhoy in a press conference at Laguna Garden Cafe. "We have come up with some innovations to make the league more appealing for the fans to watch for."
Aside from the cheering squads for every team and the playing of school hymns or the alma mater song of the winning side after each game, Tiukinhoy has also bared the inclusion of weightlifting in the CESAFI calendar of events for 2013.
The 13th CESAFI season will kick off with its centerpiece basketball event on August 3 at the Cebu Coliseum. The rest of the sporting disciplines that will be contested are athletics, swimming, chess, gymnastics, lawn tennis, table tennis, sepak takraw, badminton, beach volley, volleyball, taekwondo, karatedo, football, dancesport, and scrabble.
While they aspire for supremacy in their respective fields, Fr. Uy admonished the contending squads that the true essence of sportsmanship is not much on winning, but fighting well.
"In every competition, it's not only about winning trophies and medals. It's also about building champions of character," said Fr. Uy. "We should be building not only champions in the court but also champions for life." "Competition will always be there but after the tournament, we will all be friends primarily because that is our goal, to foster camaraderie, fellowship and friendship among each other."
On the other hand, Tiukinhoy announced CESAFI's partnership with wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. among the many steps they take to help ensure the success of the league.
"Our partnership with the CESAFI is part of our commitment to help promote sports, to contribute to the national goal of finding the next Filipino athletes who will shine globally," said Steve Alcoseba, Smart head of sales and distribution for the Visayas and Mindanao.
"We're very honored for this partnership with CESAFI and for being an instrument in fulfilling the dreams of our young athletes to excel in their field," said Jocel Adorable, Smart head for direct to consumer marketing.
As usual, the main highlight of the CESAFI is the scathing rivalry between perennial basketball powers in Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras and the University of the Visayas (UV) Green Lancers.
Curiously, the coaches of the opposing sides were very cordial and civil to each other although their intense hardcourt war is obviously brewing already.
"As for the SWU Cobras, it's not only UV that we're looking at. It's not only UV alone that we're preparing at but the whole CESAFI," said legendary coach Raul "Yayoy" D. Alcoseba of Southwestern U, the defending champion. "This is going to be a very exciting season. Against UV, they are a team we have to beat but it's nothing personal, it's only a game."
UV coach Felix "Donbel" Belano, Jr. agreed with what Alcoseba said.
"Coach Yayoy is right, it's nothing personal. This UV-SWU rivalry is existent for several decades already and there's nothing new about it. Maybe some quarters are just playing it up because of the recent turn of events to hype up the league," said Belano, apparently referring to the hardcourt melee that broke out between the Lancers and the Cobras in an out-of-town match three weeks ago in Alcoy.
"A rivalry is good for the league, but not to the point that it will incite any untoward incident," added Belano. "As for the Lancers, we are preparing for all the teams and we will give our best to win the championship."
After claiming a record of nine straight CESAFI crowns, the UV Lancers has not won one since 2010, the very same year their star center Greg Slaughter left the team for a more lucrative offer to play for the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP.
While UV and SWU are tipped as the early title favorites given their superior manpower beefed up by Cameroonians recruits, the rest of their rivals have trained hard and are out to give them a good run for their money.
"I can say that we're a much better team now compared to last year. We have a better chance of qualifying for the Final Four and if we reach that stage, it's going to be anybody's game," said Cebuano basketball legend Julian Macoy, now the chief bench tactician of the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors.
"I will just rely on my local players because we don't have any foreign imports. For one thing for sure, we will always give our opponents a tough fight," said coach Gilbert Demape of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Wildcats.
Meanwhile, Tiukinhoy said the commissioners, referees, table officials, all coaches and collegiate basketball players have undergone mandatory drug tests in compliance with the league's drug-free policy. (FREEMAN)