CIS boys wins it all

sunstar photo by Ruel Rosillo

Practicing under a huge “torch” must work wonders for one’s game.

Kids Football Center-Pomeroy, a squad of “extras” whose practice venue is under the Olympic urn of the Cebu City Sports Center, turned a lot of heads as it topped the Players 6 division of the 9th Aboitiz Youth Festival at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center with a 4-3 win over Paref-Springdale.

“They play regularly at the Sports Center under the torch, so we decided to field them in the tournament,” said team manager, Dondon Ramos, whose squad was bankrolled by Karl Veloso.

And play they did, toying with Pabol B, 9-0, in the eliminations en route to topping their group and overcoming Pabol A in the semifinals to move to the finals match.


The final, which drew a huge crowd, saw pint-sized MVP Kurt Cuizon put the energizer bunny to shame as he kept on going and going, scoring all four goals.

At the other end, girl goalkeeper Andrea Pelicano proved she could play with the boys as she kept the Springdale strikers at bay.

Gabgab Villacin struck first for Springdale in the fifth, but 10 seconds after the restart, Cuizon dribbled past the defense and added two more to put KFC ahead at 3-1.

“It’s their second straight tournament, and their second runner-up finish,” said Springdale coach Mario Ceniza. “The team was also second in the San Roque Football Festival.”

Springdale made up for the loss with a 2-0 win over Hiroshi FC in the in the Players 12 division finals.

MVP Karl Arcenas, who stood a foot taller than the HFC defense, scored once in each half for the win.

In the Boys 17 final, Cebu International School’s Michael Sharpe scored the lone goal in a tough 1-0 win over Don Bosco College to duplicate their ladies team’s win last Saturday.

Sharpe, who played for Cebu in the Adidas Under-19 Nationals and had stints abroad, deflected Paulo Cases’ corner in the sixth, while goalkeeper Red Miguel and defender Andre Antigua held on to seal the win.

On the other hand, goalkeeper Jestoni Pelago did it all for a 2-1 shootout win over Springdale in the Boys 14. Pelago got past Paolo Pascual for the first goal and then stopped Pascual in the turnaround, paving the way for Junjun Pintuan’s game-winner.
Pintuan clinched the MVP award.

Some 1,200 players from 109 teams, including four from Dumaguete, joined the two-day football fiesta, which served as the opening salvo for the ninth Aboitiz season next month.