STC girls rule football

THE third time’s proved to be the charm for the St. Theresa’s College girls football team but for the University of Cebu, the 15th win is their best so far.

As expected, UC claimed its 15th straight title in the secondary division of the Milo Little Olympics, with a day to spare. UC now has 160 points, a huge improvement from its 40 points during the opening weekend at the Cebu City Sports Center.

UC left behind last week’s leader, University of San Carlos Basic Education (USC BED), which only had 104 points. As of the moment, USC is contesting the second place with Abellana National School, which has 88.75.

Only scrabble, chess and volleyball are left to be tallied in the overall count in the secondary division.

In the elementary division, USC BED is the virtual champion with 111.5 points, while second place is a tossup between Talamban Elementary School (60.5) and Cebu City Central School (58.5).

According to UC athletic director Bernard Ricablanca, this year is their sweetest win considering how the first weekend turned out for them.

“We were truly alarmed last week because USC got surprisingly strong. They have athletes in all events. So we thought this may be the year we will lose. We even thought that if we lose, at least, lose gracefully.”

“We did not field athletes in a lot of events. But luck was in our favor. Not all the events they joined, nadaog sila, but sa gamay nga events among giiapilan, luckily, we dominated,” said Ricablanca.

UC once more topped in its strongest events—athletics, badminton, girls’s swimming and table tennis.

But the story in the final weekend belongs to the STC girls football team, who was the epitome of what support from the parents, teachers and administration can do to a team.

STC won, 2-1, in extra time over Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, a school with a strong football background.

Awesome STC

“After three tries, we finally won. This is nothing short of awesome,” said Aiko Manaloto, who scored the game’s winning goal. “This year has been great because we now have the support of the sisters.”

STC, ran by the ICM sisters, is known to be protective of its girls.

It had been hesitant in allowing their kids to play in a rough sport but was persuaded by the parents.

“The support of the parents and the girls’ determination convinced the school to allow them to play,” said teacher Ella Rose Averilla.

Lou Ann Empenado, one of the parents of the team, said, “We are very proud of them. These girls have worked hard for this. Considering they have not practiced even once this week because of the exams and unlike their opponents, they practice in a small, uneven field, so for them to win is very impressive.”

Three years ago, a team of football players from STC forced themselves to play despite hesitation from the school. They trained by themselves and even brought their own uniforms. They finished with a bronze medal right away. And things took a huge turn this year.

STC also has athletes in swimming, volleyball and table tennis and with their football team’s 25 points, the school might even make the top 10.

“This may even open the way for STC to start having a sports program. Although right now, the school starts the support by giving the girls allowances,” said Averilla.

Ateneo came from being champions to tail-enders as they are ranked 14th as of last night with 23 points.

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