THE coaching staff of the Cebu Province boys’ basketball team have a unique way of rewarding its players—giving them an hour or two to play Mobile Legends or to browse the internet after a good win.
“We keep the players’ mobile phones so they stay focused on the tournament. I only give their phones back every time we win a game to avoid distractions,” one of the team’s coaching staff Van Halen Parmis told SunStar Cebu in Cebuano.
It has proven to be an effective disciplinary tactic so far for Cebu Province’s title bid in the ongoing 2019 Batang Pinoy Visayas Qualifiers, after they pulled off a pair of lopsided wins in the past two days.
Cebu Province recorded one of the tournament’s biggest blowouts with an 81-22 slamming of hapless Sipalay City at the Iloilo City Sports Complex Covered Gym on Tuesday, Feb. 26, to tally its second win in as many games.
Parmis said there’s a verbal agreement between him and the players that every time they win by 10 points they’re allowed to use phones for 30 minutes, while one hour and 30 minutes if the lead is more than 10.
The 15-Under team of Cebu Province’s first victim was Dulay, 78-31, last Monday.
“We do this to let them focus because our goal is to really win the title, and it’s not going to be easy considering the strong contenders from Iloilo City, Mandaue City and also Cebu City,” said Parmis, who formed the team late in December last year.
Head coach JC Nuyles was impressed with the performance of his team in their first two games, but the real test for him will be on Wednesday when they face host Iloilo City.
“I’m just thankful that the kids are focused regardless if their opponent is strong or not. They are playing well as a group,” said Nuyles. “We must not be complacent and just stay focused and do the things that we can control, which is to give our best in every game.”
Big man Lorenzo Yap Jumadiao did just that against Sipalay City with a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Christian Resma was equally impressive with 16 points and nine rebounds.
“It was a good game for us. I think the disciplinary policy helped us on our focus,” said Jumadiao.
The Cebu Province, composed of players from Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, Mary Help of Christians School of Minglanilla, Southwestern University and Moalboal National High School, set the tone early as they blanked Sipalay City, 16-0, after the first quarter.
Sipalay made it to the scoreboard only at the 6:30 mark in the second quarter from a split free throw. The halftime score was 38-3 before the lead ballooned to 56-6 at the end of the third quarter.
“Our disciplinary tactics were from coach Van (Parmis). When he formed this team, he set a goal and that was to win the Visayas Leg. We want the kids to stay focused for us to achieve that,” said Nuyles.
Cebu Province currently shares the lead in Pool/Bracket A with Iloilo City with an identical 2-0 (win-loss) record followed by Cebu City (1-1). Dulay and Sipalay City are winless after two games.
The top two teams in Pool A and B will advance to the semifinals.
When asked if there’s going to be a bonus on phone usage after a 59-point win, Parmis said that he will allow the players to use their mobile phones for two hours.
On the other hand, the Cebu Province karatedo team spelled the difference on Day 2 as they bagged 12 out of 20 available gold medals at the SM City Iloilo Northwing.
Cebu Province now has a total medal count of 19 gold medals, eight silver medals and 11 bronze medals based on the monitoring of the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission. The medals were from karatedo, athletics, chess and taekwondo.
Cebu City, meanwhile, has 13 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 21 bronze medals based on the count from the Cebu City Sports Commission. Cebu City’s medal came from archery, athletics, chess, karatedo and taekwondo.
The sporting meet organized by the Philippine Sports Commission for grassroots players will run until Saturday, March 2, in various playing venues in Iloilo. (RSC)