IT'S been talked about for some time, when the then Cebu Football Association (CFA) started holding coaching seminars for locals, but I’m glad now that the Central Visayas Football Association (CVFA) is considering only allowing licensed coaches to handle teams in tournaments under its watch.

And this is where football has an advantage in Cebu, it’s only in the sport that this can be realistically implemented.

I think it’s about time the local football association (FA) takes such move as it would encourage everyone involved in local football to take up licenses. Parents involved in the sport should support this too. Heck, if you want your yayas to have police or NBA clearances, or if you send your kids only to schools or daycares with licensed professionals, why not demand the same standard for those who handle your kids’ sporting activity?

Why is it only possible in football? Well, it’s something that participants in other sports always find unbelievable when I tell them about it. You see, in Cebu, the CVFA is the governing body for the sport and is given that authority by the Philippine Football Federation. Sure, there are Cebu counterparts of other national sports associations, but they don’t hold the same clout nor are they held in the same esteem by those they govern.

Take the case of suspensions. A footballer whose misconduct in one tournament warrants a six-month long suspension in all CVFA-related activities will really stay suspended because organizers of the other tournaments--where he didn’t misbehave--will honor it.

In basketball, you may be banned for the whole season in one tournament, or for life even, but you could still play in another.

So, what does the latest CVFA directive mean for coaches. Simple, you should get a license. In my experience as a reporter and organizer, coaches are the first to complain that things should be done this way or that way. Well, this is the proper first step in CVFA’s effort to get coaching and coaches in Cebu professionalized. (Please don’t deflect the attention by pointing to the referees; though the local FA is also starting in that direction).

Tournament organizers can also help in implementing the directive. They only need to get a list of licensed coaches from the CVFA and if the coach in a registration form isn’t in that list, that team’s registration is denied.

We can do that for the SunStar Cup and I think the CVFA can do that also for the Aboitiz Cup.

I’m hoping that the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. can also do that for its football tournament. I think all of the head coaches in the Cesafi football teams are licensed, I’m not so sure though with the assistant coaches. But with only five teams in college and six in high school, that would be easy to check.

Cesafi has never been under the CVFA, or then CFA, but both have come to a mutual understanding after years of conflict. The local FA respects Cesafi’s rule in barring players from playing in tournaments when the league is ongoing so it doesn’t schedule tournaments involving Cesafi players during those days.

Maybe this time, the league can return the favor.