CESAFI DARES AT 10
Aug. 6, 2010

With pomp and aplomb that could rival, perhaps even surpass, the opening ceremonies of the UAAP and NCAA, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. with now 12 members held its parade of colors last Saturday to a jam-packed Cebu Coliseum.

The event, with the theme of “Power and Dominance,” also commemorated the 10th year of partnerships among some of the biggest schools and universities in the island of Cebu to foster and promote sports camaraderie and development.

Just like in Manila, collegiate basketball is a major crowd drawer with the student population, and Coach Joe Lipa and I were suitably impressed with the progress made by CESAFI member teams in nurturing the local hoop talents of their basketball players. Without doubt, they are the country’s third strongest mother league in basketball to date.

This is one of the reasons why Joe and I, together with Peter Musngi of ABS-CBN, had made a pitch to include the top two winners of the CESAFI basketball league in the Sweet 16 Finals of the 2010 Philippine Collegiate Championship games.

While no Cebu team has ever taken the PCCL championship title since it started in 2003, CESAFI schools have always made it to the top 16. The University of Visayas Green Lancers, for example, has been a Sweet 16 Finals participant for seven times, the most number among those who made it to the tough knock-out phase of the Champions League.

Other noteworthy CESAFI teams that have made an appearance in the Sweet 16 are University of Cebu Webmasters, University of San Jose Recoletos Jaguars, University of San Carlos Warriors, and the University of Southern Philippines Black Panthers.

Festival Island

Other than basketball, Cebuanos are fanatically proud of their colorful cultural blessings – and they should rightly be so. During the CESAFI opening, the audience was treated to a pageantry of dance from eight localities, justifying their claim as the country’s festival island.

Cebu is certainly putting up a strong bid to become the tourism capital of the country, not only by showcasing an enviable tradition through dance, but also by exuding a warmth that can only come from an ingrained culture of hospitality.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our hosts during our short visit in Cebu for such a wonderful time. In between watching the games and brief excursions to the city’s dining places, UC’s Atty. Baldomero Estenzo and CESAFI commissioner Felix “Boy” Tiukinhoy Jr. provided us with essential updates that would help further upgrade collegiate basketball in this country.

The CESAFI basketball season will end at about the same time as the UAAP, NCAA and many other smaller mother leagues from other parts of the country. This early, we look forward to hearing from Cebu who will represent their gracious province in PCCL’s final round.