Ateneo de Cebu brings ‘Magis’ spirit to Davao, wins hearts of fans

CEBU, Philippines — They may have not clinched the championship but the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) high school basketball varsity team could still take pride for personifying the 'Magis' spirit and winning the hearts of fans in Davao region.

The Magis Eagles traveled to the first-class municipality of Lupon in Davao Oriental where they battled against Davao's top college teams in the 2nd Mayor's Cup Basketball Tournament held last April 20-23.

But their eyes were not set on the top silverware of the four-day tilt organized by Lakay Rosete and Van Halen Parmis with full support from Mayor Erlinda Lim and sports committee chairman Sani Hanane who also served as the league commissioner.

Magis Eagles head coach Rommel Rasmo relished their experience in Lupon saying that it greatly helped their cause particularly in their quest to rebuild a solid fighting squad for the 18th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) cage wars this August.

"It was a very humbling experience for us. We grabbed the opportunity when we were invited by coach Van (Parmis) to play in Lupon against three of Davao's best college teams because we believe it can help us a lot in our preparations for the coming CESAFI season especially that we have a new team right now," said Rasmo, who piloted the Magis Eagles to a historic four straight title in Cebu's premiere inter-school athletic league.

"We were able to play against stronger and more mature players and so far our boys were able to stand their ground against the college teams and we are happy with their progress," added the decorated bench tactician.

More than gaining the much-needed exposure and team building preparatory for the upcoming CESAFI season though, the Magis Eagles took the chance to touch the lives of others in their own little way.

"We were able to do an outreach program of giving school supplies to one of the public schools in Lupon. Our Magis Eagles players distributed the school supplies themselves to the students and we could see it in their eyes and smiles that they were very happy that they had the chance to help out other kids," said Rasmo.

"We are also very thankful to the parents of our players who never hesitated to help out when we told them about the outreach program. Some of our players were able to share their experiences of being a student athlete. By doing this, we can also show to other other people what 'Magis' really means and what it is really all about, and that is to "do more and be more".

True enough, that simple act of kindness is the biggest trophy the Magis Eagles can proudly bring home and share to the Cebuano community. (FREEMAN)