Cebu Football

Aboitiz U11 Group A W D L Points GF GA Lahug 2 - - 6 8 - USC 1 1 - 4 6 1 SRFC - 1 1 1 6 1 Ateneo - - 2 0 0 8 Group B W D L Points GF GA Bright A 1 - - 3 1 0 MAD - ...

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 31 edition) THE Philippine Volleyball Federation is gone and the final kick was made by its parent organization, the FIVB, which has recognized the newly organized Larong Volleyball ng Pilipinas as the official national sport association of the Philippines.. I hope that ends the intramurals in Manila in the volleyball scene, because that’s what ails most of the national sports association that are wrecked by factions—groups in Manila fighting over each other on who should have hold control over a sport in the country.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 29 edition) WHEN I first covered a Cebu football match in 1997, I was quite impressed with the turnout of teams, even if it was just the men’s open. I was surprised, too, with the zeal of some of the teams, even if they had no chance at all of winning the title and the chance to represent Cebu in the regional qualifiers. To understand the impact of the Aboitiz Football Cup, first you have to understand the setup of football tournaments in the mid 90s. All FAs had football tournaments, but all of these tournaments were designed as qualifiers, elimination rounds, to determine an FAs representative to the regional qualifiers of the national tournaments--Coke Go For Goal, Adidas Under 19 and the Men’s Open.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 26 edition) DURING the press conference for the 17th Aboitiz Cup, I asked CFA president Ricky Dakay what happened to Queen City United, the formerly dominant Cebu team that’s no longer competing. His answer is music to every football fan’s ears. “It’s useless to maintain a club if you don’t have the facilities,” Ricky said. “So we have re-channeled our resources into investing in a new field, complete with all the facilities needed. We can’t really have a competitive team if you don’t have the facilities.”

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 28 edition) ENGR. Rodney Orale, a calm presence in football tournaments here, was livid last Sunday night. While talking with CFA sec-gen Atty. Julius Entise, Dino and Raffy Musni after the Aboitiz Cup opening, Dino called up Rodney for updates of their game against M'lang. He was pissed. Their team, reduced to 12 because of a decision two days before the tournament, got on the wrong end of a series of non-calls in the Smart Club tournament. He said that Cebu had a lot of goals disallowed for fouls and one player got smacked right in front of the assistant referee, while another, Ene Famous got kicked. No whistle. Being the one in charge for referees in the CFA, you rarely hear Engr. Orale complain about referees, so the officiating must have been that bad.

I FIRST met Engr. Rodney Orale after the last election of the Cebu Football Association and since then, the amiable Waray has been a regular fixture in football tournaments. In all the times that I've seen in football games, I've only seen him blow his top once, when he was insulted in front of family members in a tournament that he and his fellow ERCO-BRO team owners organized. Last Sunday night, while we were enjoying our favorite Mandaue-water after the opening of the Aboitiz Cup, with CFA sec gen Atty. Julius Entise, Dino and Raffy Musni and an unnamed referee who shared some insights, Dino called up Rodney for updates of their game against M'lang.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 24 edition) HOW would you feel if the five reinforcements you’ve spent for are declared ineligible two days before your first game? If you want to wring somebody’s neck, burn down an office or pull out of the tournament, then you’d have to be impressed at the relative calm with which UC Erco is taking this latest setback in its bid in the Philippine Football Federation Smart Cup. Told by the PFF that they are free to add five players for the national finals, they added five from the Green Archers, Chiefy Caligdong and Cebuano Paolo Pascual included. Of course, that was with the team’s blessing. No problem, right?

CEBUANO Keith Buyco, one of the owners of the Erco BRO team in the PFF Smart Club, is a heart attack survivor. He told another reporter that he almost had another one when they learned two days before the tournament that their UFL imports wouldn't be allowed to play in the PFF Smart Club. Because that's how they felt. Cheated. A victim of behind-the-scenes power play from teams who are either afraid of Chieffy Caligdong or hate the fact that a Cebu team can loan a bunch of UFL players. Buyco, the "B" behind BRO, had everything cleared with the PFF and of course GAU Animo, and they received the OK to field the five. And this being a PFF organized tournament, the PFF should have the final say right?

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan 22 edition) BEFORE Cebu got into the picture, the prestigious and economy-boosting PAL interclub golf tournament rotated among the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Bacolod. Thousands of golfers and their entourage would swoop down on these cities, boosting the local economy as they spend thousands on transportation, hotel, food, pasalubong and of course, “entertainment.” In fact, one driver I met in a hotel that didn’t house any Cebu team (just to make things clear) had a specific task, to arrive with the entertainment post-match. Which is why, as veterans tell me, the one with the worst score on the course may be the one who had the most fun off it the night before.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 21 edition) IN LESS than a year, University of Cebu-Erco BRO will have its third reincarnation, this time for the Philippine Football Federation. Smart Club championships, and I think this edition could be the team's best yet. Of course, the first one was the African-laden team that won the Aboitiz Cup last March, the first step in the ladder for the PFF Smart Club championships. Since each club is limited to only five foreign players for the Smart Club, another elimination was held in Cebu to determine the representative for the regional finals.

(This story came out in Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 19 edition) WITH the national finals at hand, Erco-Bro Nationals got a much-needed boost in their campaign in the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Smart Club Championships after beefing up their roster with six players from two United Football League clubs. Erco-Bro National added on loan former Azkals star Chieffy Caligdong, ex-Azkals striker Ian Araneta, Cebuano Paulo Pascual, Azkals Under-23 team member Ronnie Aguisanda, Reynald Villareal and Mark Ferrer.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 17 edition) TWO of the kids I used to cover in the age group football in Cebu are making the Cebu football community proud by doing well in Manila’s collegiate scene. Though both play different positions and come from two local rival schools, they’ve had similar struggles with injuries before making it big in the Manila scene.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 15 edition ) DURING the launching of Pinoy Pride 28 involving Donnie Nietes latest defense, I got to chat with Dong Secuya, the genius behind Pinoygreats.com and a slew of other websites. That talk made me realize that “genius” is an understatement because I learned that night behind that cool facade is a gifted brain that would make computer engineers, accountants and even boxing writers envious.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan 14 edition) TWO of the biggest sporting events in Cebu in the previous years were the Cebu Marathon, formerly the Cebu City Marathon, and the Cobra Ironman 70.3. One gets major backing from the local government units, including Cebu Province, while the other is primarily a private-group run event. But of the two, it's the Cebu marathon that we can truly call our own. It was started by Cebuanos for Cebuanos who love running. Now, its main purpose is to invite runners to have fun in Cebu before and after having fun in the festive Cebu marathon.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan 12 edition) DURING his testimonial dinner, while guests were enjoying the sumptuous food that would make weight-watchers cringe, Donnie Nietes got a plateful of green, leafy vegetables. (Hey kids, eat your veggies, be strong like Donnie.) “Are you training?” I asked Donnie and pointed out his plateful of vegetables.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan. 10  edition) FOR those who bemoan the lack of support for national athletes, here’s a piece of news that will surely ruin your day. Former Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) Chairman Efraim Genuino, along with a slew of sports officials that included former Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirez, were charged for malversation of more than P37 million that was supposed to go to local athletes.

(This is my Fair Play column for Sun.Star Cebu's Jan 5. edition ) IN the Philippines, Peping Cojuangco, the chairman of the Philippine Olympic Committee, is the face most people associate with Philippine sports development. Though he may seem powerful, and some of his policies and criteria have been a bane to some athletes whose international stints were snuffed because according to the POC—and PSC—they had no chance at all to win a medal, there are also other powerful men in Philippine sports.

( This is not a Fair Play or a column entry for Sun.Star Cebu, but a chronicle of my unfortunate experience in LTO Mandaue, the most inept and fixer-infested office I've encountered ) ON JAN. 7, I applied for a renewal of registration of a car (registered under) my wife, and experienced  first hand how inept and blatantly corrupt the Land Transportation Office in Mandaue City is. It seems, everyone there is a fixer and that their system is intentionally designed so the walk-in clients would leave thinking of only one thing, it's better to get a fixer.  In fact, I wish that everyone in that office would be punished by facing Cebu Pacific type of delays for all things, even the simplest thing as waiting for a red light to turn green. There's no. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, or even a help desk. There was an empty desk marked CSR in the waiting area where fixers sat.