I’ve always been a believer that sports is one of the best ways to unite a nation. And this works better when done on a bigger magnitude. We just saw this when the country cheered and prayed for Gilas Pilipinas when it had to win two straight games on foreign land and needed a loss by either Lebanon, Jordan or Japan on the last day of the FIBA World Cup Qualifier.
On the local level, we too, proudly have a province-wide tournament that will unite the whole of Cebu. It’s the third edition of the Governor’s Cup basketball tournament, an Under 21 age group competition featuring 41 teams from all over the province. Picture this. For yesterday’s opening day, games were played on eight venues across the province: Talisay, Oslob, Tuburan, Danao, Bogo, Catmon, Consolacion and Dumanjug. It’s like a smaller version of the NBA where games are played across the U.S. In our case, that’s creating a beehive of basketball activity buzzing the Cebu brand of basketball. This scene will be repeated every weekend until the teams are trimmed down in the playoffs round. It may not be a case of eight venues per night, but it will make a lot of basketball noise across Cebu, that’s for sure. There will be seven beehives of activity as the tournament has divided the lot into seven groups or districts, representing the seven congressional areas of Cebu. Note that this excludes the congressional districts of the City of Cebu. The towns in each district play each other in a mini tournament of their own, with a champion emerging as the district’s champion. The district champion and its runner-up then move on to the next round where the top two teams of each district play another round of games. The fourteen teams will be split into two groups that will play each other to make it to another playoffs round that will eventually determine a champion.
What I like most about the Governor’s Cup is its overall atmosphere. It’s the only tournament of this magnitude that implements a modified home and away format where all teams get to host a game or two and also get to play on another team’s homecourt. For every home game, a crowd is sure to cheer and support the home team as the visiting team targets to get an “away” win. The venue is usually packed with a weekend crowd that treats the game as the main event of the town for the weekend. Being a probinsyano myself, I don’t mind saying that when an event is perceived as a town’s major activity for that day, the town goes out to support this. Thus, you’ll see venues packed with not only basketball fans, but curious townmates too. There are no big malls, restaurants or bars that can compete with these games. That’s a united front supporting a home team and the tournament in return. The visiting team usually brings in its band of supporters who are daring enough to cheer their lungs out in “hostile” territory.
Sports tourism is another angle about the tournament. It may not be of the glamorous type that features fancy beach resorts, fiestas and high-end activities. But it takes a band of players around the province: from within one’s district, and later across the province for the top two teams of each district. As a “tourist,” who wouldn’t love to watch a game in Bantayan island, Medellin or San Remigio, then hit the beach a day after or on the day of the game itself? The same is true for trips made to southern Cebu where the lechon in Carcar awaits and the whale sharks of Oslob frolick. Trips that take teams and their supporters around Cebu gives them a chance to appreciate the beauty of another town and what it has to offer. The local economy receives a boost as local carinderias, restaurants, public utility vehciles and even sari-sari stores will enjoy a spike in sales. Over-all, we’ll have different local economies picking up as this is replicated in other areas of Cebu. The beehive of activity that we’re talking about is not just basketball noise but business-wise as well.
On the basketball side (which we almost forgot), I hope and pray that the Governor’s Cup continues to play on, regardless of who sits as governor. This way, a town can develop a total program for the long haul. Young upstarts from the province get that unique opportunity to play for their respective towns and get a second chance to be seen by scouts and coaches of different college basketball teams. In fact, a number of Governor’s Cup players are already in the line-ups of CESAFI teams. Younger kids will also be inspired to take the sport more seriously with the hopes of playing for one’s home team. My wish is that each town now develops a youth/grassroots program that will seek to provide basketball activities for the teen segment. Allow me to plug as a case study the Cong. Red Durano Cup of the fifth district, a basketball tournament featuring Under 18 players. Many of them move on to their Governor’s Cup U21 teams, tucked with experience and exposure. If a program can go down to as young as the U15 and U12 age groups, that will give a town a vast base of talent that will grow and develop through time.
See how sports can bring everyone together? Working for a common cause, and how it’s not only for sports per se?