KCS-Mandaue seeks support in quest for historic grand title

CEBU, Philippines — There’s no way but up for the KSC Computer Specialist-Mandaue City after making history in the just concluded Visayas leg of the Pilipinas Vismin Super Cup.

Last week, KCS-Mandaue pulled off an 89-75 stunner over the heavily favored MJAS Zenith-Talisay City Aquastars in the deciding match of their best-of-three finals to etch their name in stone as the first ever Visayas champion of the upstart league played in bubble set-up at the Alcantara Civic Center in Alcantara, Cebu.

  It was truly a fairytale run for the Computer Specialists, who, from the very beginning of the tournament, were only given a very slim chance to barge into the championship.

Yet, KCS-Mandaue overcame the overwhelming odds and took the fledgling league by surprise with their

sheer determination and will power.

“The feeling is very fulfilling when you see that you are able to overcome the challenge that came into your life,” said MCS-Mandaue team owner Ricky Verdida.

On the heels of their success, the 40-year-old Verdida shared that he sacrificed a lot for his team with only Renan Sumarago Agudo of GDSM Marketing by his side.

And that will continue as they await the winner of the Mindanao leg, which they will take on in the best-of-five Vismin Super Cup Grand Finals in the second week of June.

Verdida straightforwardly admitted that while he is very passionate about what he is doing, the financial burden their prolonged campaign entails is just too heavy to bear for him being a small time businessman that is why they are exploring all aspects of support they could possibly get.

In fact, Verdida bared that a big chunk of the P500,000 cash prize they pocketed for winning the Visayas leg will be defrayed for the ‘delayed’ salaries of his team while the remaining portion of it he will use to pay the money he borrowed from friends just to sustain their day-to-day operations while inside the bubble.

“Right now, we are working out on our marketing hoping to get more sponsorships,” Verdida said. “We already have a scheduled courtesy call next week with Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes. Hopefully, Mandaue will support us in our training and other expenses especially in the grand finals in Mindanao next month.”

“As much as we can, we will really try our best to win the grand title and make another history. Some say that Mindanao teams are very strong. Talisay is also a highly competitive team yet we beat them. So there’s no reason we can’t do it against a Mindanao team,” Verdida pointed out.