United and Synchronized for Cebu Sports

To be united and in synch with each other for the good of Cebu Sports. This is what’s needed as the calendar of sports activities kicks off along with the start of the school-year. In the past, major problems occurred when each league went on its own to put up its own calendar regardless of the other sports events that were also considered as important in everyone’s sports program. The end result was a chaotic commotion where organizers ended up pointing fingers at each other. But I’d like to believe that was the case then. Have we improved through the years?

It’s necessary to take a look at the big picture first then find a way to make everyone benefit from a united set-up. We all know that the most important event for collegiate sports is the CESAFI. Basketball is easily the biggest event, but it also features other traditional events like volleyball, football, athletics, table tennis and more. The champions of these events have a chance to compete at the regional and national levels of the PRISAA and Unigames.

The scenario switches though when it comes to high school and grade school sports. The high school sports programs consider other events as more important than the CESAFI for the main reason that these give schools a chance to compete at a higher level, something which the CESAFI doesn’t offer. The Milo Little Olympics is a perfect example. It’s a step ladder type competition that brings the best athletes from a local/regional level to a national competition. This year’s national finals will be held in Manila. The same is true for the DEPED’s Palaro series of competitions which starts at the City or various local levels. The winners here move on to the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA). The CVIRAA’s best then compete at the Palarong Pambansa which features the best athletes from all over the country. Again this is something the CESAFI can’t do. In basketball, the Milo-backed BEST SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament also conducts local, regional and national championships every year for the past 27 years to-date. These are rare opportunities that schools shouldn’t miss. Isn’t it a school’s responsibility to make its athletes reach as far as they can?

In the past, the presence of all these events somehow created some problems when the CESAFI put up a rule that didn’t allow its players to compete in other events while the CESAFI was ongoing. But it didn’t make any sense. A high school sports program is not expected to skip the Milo Little Olympics, Milo BEST, its local City Olympics or CVIRAA just to give way to the CESAFI. We must also understand that the CESAFI made that rule as a reply to the common practice of collegiate basketball players who played for pay with commercial teams in other leagues while the CESAFI season was ongoing. The mistake was when they applied this rule to high school athletes, not aware that these bunch don’t play for “panalay” and that there are other important events that high school teams also join.

Having said that, this year’s calendar looks challenging, shows some signs of possible conflicts, but it’s certainly manageable. The Milo Little Olympics will be held on the weekends of August 24-26 and September 1-2.

The CESAFI also released an initial calendar indicating that basketball starts on July 29 while the other events roll off on August 18. The City Olympics is usually held in between September and October, while the CVIRAA is held in November. Now there are talks that the CVIRAA is to be brought back to its original February sked, but this is still for confirmation.

The big task on hand is for everyone to work with each other to come up with a schedule that gives everyone a chance to play in all competitions, especially those that can take them to the regional and national level.

The basketball schedules are easier to adjust as a CESAFI schedule has already been set. This gives organizers the chance to make adjustments. The Palaro events are also easy to streamline as these aren’t long-running.

This is where the CESAFI should give way to the Milo Little Olympics. I don’t think it’s feasible for CESAFI’s other events to start on August 18 with the Milo Little “O” starting the weekend after on the 24th. And I don’t think the CESAFI will also insist on having games for its other events while the Milo Little Olympics is ongoing. If they do this, you can expect zero participation at the CESAFI games. I’m sure this was discussed when the CESAFI coaches met yesterday to work out their respective schedules, plans and formats.

At the end of the day, organizers should be flexible for the sake of Cebu Sports and the Cebu athletes. We’re all in this for the same purpose and we must work together. Remember that song from awhile back? “We’re all in this together.....”

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Time-out: Join the St. Ignatius Run 2012 at Insular Square on July 28: 3K for the SHS-Ateneo community, 6K

Open & 16K Open. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].