Shaking up the local volley scene

THE volleyball scene in Cebu will get more interesting as the 1st Cebu City Mayor’s Cup Volleyball Open will gather the top-notch volleybelles on May 6 to 16 at the University of San Carlos (USC) Gym.

There will be 20 teams—10 each in the men’s and women’s divisions—that will vie for titles and the P30,000 cash purse in the tournament initiated by the local government unit of Cebu City with the support of the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC).

The event will highlight the presence of former varsity stalwarts and current collegiate stars in Cebu. There will are four teams from Manila that are competing and will surely make the field more exciting.

Cebu City Councilor and deputy mayor for sports Jerry Guardo said that this event is part of the sports tourism program of Cebu City during the press conference at the Cebu Grand Hotel yesterday.

“We have learned that there are no volleyball events for athletes in Cebu City after Cesafi (Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc.). So we have come up with this one,” said Guardo.

“We have done the Zumba, Sinulog Cup Basketball Tournament, airsoft tournament and this time, the volleyball tournament. Our coming events will be the beach volleyball tournament next month and the dragon boat race in June,” he said.

Tournament manager Jordan Paca said that the event created a buzz in the volleyball community, getting the former and current volleyball players excited.

“Every team are making an effort to form a solid core. Some are even spending money to bring the players to Cebu,” said Paca.

For Cebu Province assistant coach and former national team members Paul Delgado this event will only make the local competition better and will help to improve the state of the sport in Cebu.

“There are three volleyball groups in Cebu and there’s the friendly competition among these groups. This competition will bring the best out of the players,” he stressed.

The teams in the men’s division are Southwestern University (SWU-Phinma), USC, University of Cebu (UC), Techno Hammers and Good Harvest in Group A, while in Group B are University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R), University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F), Cebrus, Cebu Province and 8x8.

The women’s division will have SWU-Phinma, USP-F, South Spikers, CSVC and CS Poncas in Group A, while USJ-R, USC, UC, Mandaue and MGC-New Life Christian Academy in Group B.

The teams will play a single-round robin and the top two teams will advance to the cross-over semis. The champion team will win P30,000, while P20,000, P10,000 and P5,000 for second to fourth place, respectively.

The volleyball fanatics can witness the games live for P20 for lower box and P10 for upperbox. The entrance fees will be used for the benefit of the CCSC grassroots sports program.

Guardo said that if the inaugural Cebu City Mayor’s Cup Volleyball Open will get a good outcome and response from the sports enthusiasts it will be pushed as an annual event. (RSC)