LIKE a debutant cloistered for so long, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. is finally ready to take on new challenges at 18. Coincidentally, though, as the league pointed out in a press release, now is the first year when the first graduates of the K12 program enter college as 18-year-old college freshmen, two years older than previous high school graduates.
Now is the best time to take on new challenges with a new breed of students on board. There are many changes this year. My favorite, of course, is the addition of a U12 division in football. I asked Paref-Springdale coach Mario Ceniza if he is interested in signing up as a guest team for the league and he said yes.
However, his lone concern is if it will affect the team’s City Olympics bid. I just learned now that the top three teams of the high school football division will advance to the City Olympics. But I think details like that can be addressed best by Francis Ramirez, the tournament director for Cesafi football, who is also with the Department of Education regional office.
Why do I want Springdale to join the Cesafi U12 division? Simple. Competition brings out the best in sports and the one that benefits if you bring the best teams in a competition is Cebu football. Remember, Cesafi is an 11-a-side competition, not a seven-a-side one-day festival, which is the common competition for this age group.
The skills set, mindset and stamina needed are different in the full game and I know coaches prefer the 11-a-side game than the seven-a-side version, because they can test their players’ maturity and situational awareness.
Wait a minute, a guest team in Cesafi? Well, like I said, like an 18-year-old ready to get out of her comfort zone, the league is open to new ideas. After approving SMS Boys Town as a guest team in U12 basketball, it also approved the school’s participation in high school football, volleyball, swimming and athletics events.
SMS Boys Town’s stint in the Cesafi is going to be of particular interest to the Cebu Province Sports Commission, which helped jump-start the program a year ago on the prodding of basketball coach Van Halen Parmis of the University of the Visayas.
Precing Capangpanan, I know, was also involved with its athletic program and I think Mary Joy Tabal and John Philip Duenas also visited the place and talked with the runners. If the school does well in the Cesafi athletics competition, who knows, that might encourage schools that don’t have any athletics program to start one.
Remember, the whole sports program of SMS Boys town started as an outreach activity by Parmis.
Also, perhaps by having Springdale as a guest team, it might prod the school to apply for a Cesafi membership.
And wouldn’t that be the greatest reward for the league at 18? To see its membership grow. There are a lot of non-Cesafi members and some schools I think don’t bother to join because they can’t form teams for all of sports. But the league isn’t just a sports competition, it’s a community of schools.