TO honor the efforts and achievements of its student-athletes, the University of the Visayas (UV) management organized a recognition day for them on Thursday, Dec. 13.

Sportsman and First District representative Gerard Anthony “SamSam” Gullas told SunStar Cebu that it’s the first time that the school made a recognition day for the student-athletes.

“It’s an intimate yet fun program; we honored all our UV student-athletes. Since we took over full control of our UV athletic program, we put a premium on giving equal opportunity to all sports teams,” he said.

UV is widely known for its dominance in Cebu’s basketball, and the testament to that is the multiple titles they won in the basketball competition of Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi). This season, the men’s basketball team completed a coveted three-peat.

But the school is not only focusing on basketball as it works on programs like football, volleyball and individual sports like chess and swimming, among others.

“Last year, I noticed that other sports programs in UV weren’t given the support that they deserved. They were talented, smart. They were true student-athletes, but somewhere along the way, we lost track. I lost track,” he said.

Gullas said they have changed this as they put emphasis on the school’s other sports programs.

“This past year, we’ve changed that. If the basketball program had to suffer the budget cut, then so be it. I love my basketball teams, but they had to sacrifice for the betterment of all other student-athletes in UV. We are definitely not just a basketball school,” he said. RSC