I WAS on vacation when Councilor Jerry Guardo, who was then newly appointed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña as deputy mayor for sports, had a meeting with local sportswriters to talk about his sports tourism program. Since then, the former barangay captain had a series of meetings with local stakeholders of the sports that he wanted included in his program.
The next thing I learned is the reported P98-million budget the councilor is asking for his programs, one which reportedly includes the rehabilitation of the Cebu City Sports Center football pitch. I don’t know what the rest includes, and I hope everyone involved will practice due diligence and scrutinize the amount because it’s the right practice.
As for the football rehabilation, here’s a suggestion for the good councilor. Since he’s asking for P98 million, I hope it includes an artificial pitch for the CCSC, and if the P98 million doesn’t, what’s a few million more?
Any rehab that doesn’t involve artificial grass at the CCSC could be considered a waste because the grass will eventually die when the stage is put up for the annual Sinulog celebration. At this point, any rehab of the CCSC should include the Sinulog, to make it long term.
It’s useless to wish that the Sinulog transfers to another venue; it is staged there due to the same reason football fans prefer to have championship matches staged at the CCSC--it’s convenient and accessible to fans.
You can put up a protective covering over the artificial grass in the weeks that the stage will be needed for the Sinulog and when you take it off, the grass would still be green--or white and yellow. Natural grass dies if it’s covered for a long time.
It’s going to cost millions--I think it was close to P20 million the last time it was considered--but the return on investments would be tremendous.
Having an artificial turf means Cebu City will be an automatic candidate for Azkals home games and I know for a fact that though Bacolod has the pristine Panaad Sports Stadium, PFF prefers Cebu because we have an international airport. Teams going to Cebu need not pass through NAIA, unlike Bacolod.
And of course, we have the hotels to accommodate the fans and teams, should they require five-star accommodation.
Another thing, the worst traffic gridlock in Cebu is nowhere near that of Manila’s, where the Azkals spend some three to four hours on the road just going to and from practice. The last time they were here, they were amazed they only spent 15 minutes on the bus going to practice.
What’s the advantage of hosting an international match? Free advertisement. Again, Pinoys may not know the Southeast Asian stars, but these national team members get a rabid following at home; a tweet or two about how they enjoyed Cebu is free advertising. Look what happened after Cebu hosted the Singapore vs. Azkals game? The stars themselves returned on their own to Cebu for a vacation, this time with family.