Warrior Pilgrimage

Featured in www.pinoyapache.blogspot.com on July 1, 2010

IT HAS BEEN THIRTY-five years since I played my first basketball game. It was just a pick-up game of three a side. A one goal affair. Then and there, I sprained my middle finger. I was a fourth grader. Nine years later, I played my first collegiate varsity game.

I suited up for the “new” Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST) Builders in 1983 in the now-defunct Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA)1. Previously, this team was known as the Cebu School of Arts and Trades (CSAT) Builders and it languished always at the cellar. A favorite whipping boy!

The CAAA basketball league consisted of Cebu's cream of colleges and universities like the University of Visayas (UV) Green Lancers, the Cebu Central College (CCC) Executives2, the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Jaguars, the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) Wildcats, the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors, the University of Southern Philippines (USP) Black Panthers and the Cebu Technical School (CTS) Scanners.

In that year, the Green Lancers were the powerhouse. Their lineup then could beat any collegiate team in the country. They have with them burly centers Anthony Mendoza and Christopher Amomonpon; guards Alfonso Solis, Boy Cabahug and former USC Warriors ace Jerry Aratan; forwards Godo Gonzaga, Stevenson Dajalos and Andrew Najarro. Their third five could beat our team handily...READ MORE (Press CTRL + mouse click)