PH sports body prepares Cebu beach volley team

THE Philippine Sports Commission beach volley consultant Eric Lecain is preparing the Cebu beach volley team for the upcoming Philippine Hotel Reservations Service (PHRS) Boracay Beach Volley Open on Nov. 16-18, 2012.

The Cebuano team, composed of Joerem Yu and Jason Gabales, settled for a second place finish last year after bowing to Team Le Soleil of Jayson Labuyo and Jayson Palma in the men’s division.

“We are aiming to improve last year’s finish,” Lecain said.

The tournament is considered the biggest beach volley tournament in the country.

Last year, it was able to draw several foreign teams from Germany, United States, Canada, Brazil, Qatar and Sweden, competing in the fun and mixed divisions. It also attracted about 3,000 spectators.

“Actually, I am going to try and bring as many teams as possible....I am looking at some out-of-school guy that have nothing to play in, and give him something to look forward to,” Lecain said.

Meanwhile, Lecain is in Cebu supervising the building of the PSC-funded sand court at the Fort San Pedro grounds, which they hope to finish before the year ends.

“The main thing on my plate now is to finish the court. We are still having many problems, such as the supplier of the sand. If the sand was available, it would have been done a long time ago, but getting sand legally is hard, but we will finish it as soon as possible,” Lecain said.

Lecain said he will be flying to Manila today to meet with the PSC and discuss the program that they are doing in Cebu, especially about the plan of making Cebu the official training ground for beach volley in the country.