Fair Play: Another field to rise in Cebu?
(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.”
It won’t be just an ordinary pitch. Ricky, who once had truckloads of sand hauled to his house slash office so the Cebu Amateur Football Club (the club that runs Queen City United) could have beach football during a Christmas party, wants training facilities, dormitories and the whole nine yards for the new Queen City field.
Why have a complete new field when the University of San Carlos Stadium is months away from opening?
“It’s part of the requirements for having a team for the planned National League and Cebu was identified as one of the FAs for the national league,” said Ricky.
“With the facilities in place, you can easily put up your farm system for the club,” said Ricky.
What would this mean for Cebu football?
Well, for starters, having a new football field is always welcome news. Come on, we can’t rely forever on the Dust Bowl at the Cebu City Sports Center, right? And having a team in the national league and a farm system in place means kids who dream of becoming professionals no longer have to relocate to Manila and try their luck in the United Football League.
They can make their dreams come true, here.
This is one piece of news that’s music to our ears.
Another piece of good news, of course, is the opening of the University of San Carlos stadium.
The Cebu Football Association is looking at a friendly between the national team against Thailand, Vietnam or Malaysia as an opening salvo in June or July.
Any Azkals friendly outside Manila is a welcome development for fans from the Visayas and Mindanao and of course, with the national team competing in the world cup qualifiers this year, they need all the friendlies they can have.
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.”
It won’t be just an ordinary pitch. Ricky, who once had truckloads of sand hauled to his house slash office so the Cebu Amateur Football Club (the club that runs Queen City United) could have beach football during a Christmas party, wants training facilities, dormitories and the whole nine yards for the new Queen City field.
Why have a complete new field when the University of San Carlos Stadium is months away from opening?
“It’s part of the requirements for having a team for the planned National League and Cebu was identified as one of the FAs for the national league,” said Ricky.
“With the facilities in place, you can easily put up your farm system for the club,” said Ricky.
What would this mean for Cebu football?
Well, for starters, having a new football field is always welcome news. Come on, we can’t rely forever on the Dust Bowl at the Cebu City Sports Center, right? And having a team in the national league and a farm system in place means kids who dream of becoming professionals no longer have to relocate to Manila and try their luck in the United Football League.
They can make their dreams come true, here.
This is one piece of news that’s music to our ears.
Another piece of good news, of course, is the opening of the University of San Carlos stadium.
The Cebu Football Association is looking at a friendly between the national team against Thailand, Vietnam or Malaysia as an opening salvo in June or July.
Any Azkals friendly outside Manila is a welcome development for fans from the Visayas and Mindanao and of course, with the national team competing in the world cup qualifiers this year, they need all the friendlies they can have.
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