THE Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC) is not resting on its laurels and hopes to further improve the province-wide Governor’s Cup Inter-Cities and Municipalities Basketball Tournament.
The second season of the 21-Under basketball tournament concluded last Wednesday with the Talisay City Aquastars ruling the event in historic fashion as they finished the tournament with a clean 14-0 win-loss record.
“Just like our inaugural year, the second season was a success. This time we were able to make more impact and create a lot of awareness of the basketball players and fans in cities and municipalities of Cebu,” CPSC executive director Atty. Ramil Abing told SunStar Cebu in a phone interview.
Abing said that despite the successful season, organizers saw facets that can still be improved in the next season. These include the budget of the participating local governments and the coaches’ training.
“On a personal note, I have seen teams that have good players but the coaches were not that skilled. We are planning to do more seminars for the coaches, especially those who come from far-flung towns,” he said.
The other challenge for the CPSC is the upcoming local and national election next year. Abing said that they are going to push through with the tournament and will look to do it much earlier.
“We have to sustain the program. It encourages the athletes to participate. Some towns are already doing their own Inter-Barangay Leagues as a preparation for the Governor’s Cup,” he said.
Abing added that the league has become a venue for grassroots players who want to show their skills. Some of the players of the Governor’s Cup got athletic offers from various schools in Cebu.
“There are players who got offers. We are still going to verify how many of them did so. This makes the event a success because we achieved our purpose of promoting and discovering grassroots talents,” said Abing.
The second season of the Governor’s Cup attracted 46 of 51 local government units. The Capitol shelled out a P500,000 cash prize for the champion Talisay City and P300,000 for the runner-up San Francisco. (RSC)