CESAFI Off to a Conspicuous Start

If the press conference showed any indication of how the upcoming season of Cebu’s premier inter-school league, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) is going to be, then school supporters and fans are in for a wild ride.

The 12th season of the Cesafi had its launching press conference last July 24, 2012 at the Linea Restaurant. The event elicited hope mixed with dismay as it got a no-show from its top two contenders for the collegiate title, the University of the Visayas and Southwestern University.

The nine-time champions UV and last year’s losing finalists, SWU, are actually being considered by pundits and coaches alike, to be the two dominant teams in the league this season especially with their acquisition of Africans to bolster their campaign. SWU has talented wingman, Ben Mbala and last year’s sensation, Justin Aboude while UV recently ratcheted up their ceiling with the pick-up of the 6-foot-8 Steve Akobo.

However, the two school’s failure to send representatives to the event drew the wrath of the league's long-time commissioner, Felix Tiukinhoy.

“It’s hard to bring in and invite professional coaches. Perhaps they think that they are higher than the Cesafi. I hope that next time, they will be here,” muttered Tiukinhoy during the event which was sponsored by Globe Telecom, represented by Ms. Cleofe Alviso.

SWU’s head coach is local coaching legend and city councilor, Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba while UV’s is former PBA player, Felix “The Cat” Belano, him of the quadruple-double game in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association.

This writer was able to talk to SWU’s athletic director, Ryan Aznar and UV’s team manager and assistant vice president for finance and administration, Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas, to get their sides about their failure to send representatives to the press conference. Aznar said that he just arrived from Manila yesterday afternoon and saw the memo late while Gullas on the other hand, admitted that he was supposed to attend but had to be present at a funeral for a relative.

Those present during yesterday’s event were University of San Jose-Recoletos head coach, Edito Salacut and athletic director, Dioscoro Himotas, Cebu Institute of Technology-University athletic director, Alecks dela Torre and assistant coach, Bem Alcaraz, University of Cebu assistant coach, Jover Samonte and the University of San Carlos’ new head coach, Julian Macoy. Also there were high school coaches, Jun Pepito of the defending champions, UV Baby Lancers and Rommel Rasmo of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles.

While Tiukinhoy raved and was excited about the league’s prospects of drawing even more fans to the games with the presence of the aforementioned foreigners, the other coaches seemingly were resigned to the fact that it was going to be a long season for their respective teams.

“We don’t have (Junemar) Fajardo anymore so compared to SWU and UV, I could say that these two have really strong teams. We might be able to give them a good fight but in the end, it will be very hard to match up with their height and their strength,” said Samonte of the two-time reigning champions, Webmasters, which will be parading a team devoid of veterans except for star guard, Brian Heruela.


The USJ-R Jaguars, through Himotas, also lamented their lack of height to battle the behemoths of both SWU and UV, which has six players 6-foot-5 and above. “The tall players will be a problem for us. But we started preparing immediately after last season ended. Both SWU and UV will be very difficult to beat and getting an upset against them will be hard to say but you never can tell,” said Himotas, who said that their target mainly is to get into the “Final Four.”

USC’s newly-installed head coach, Macoy, who attained local fame with his 126-point game while playing for the Warriors way back in the 1950s, divulged a more humble target. “This is my first time as a coach here in Cebu so I really don’t know how I will be. It will be good if USC can win a game. That’s all I want for now. Our team’s size is small but I like the heart of my players,” he said.

The 12th season of the Cesafi opens this Sunday at the Cebu Coliseum with games in the junior and seniors divisions, featuring USC and USJ-R, following the grand opening ceremonies which start at 2 pm.


By:

Jonas Rey N. Panerio
iSTORYAn League of Writers- Sports

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