Ever since I learned that boxing patron Lorenzo Chao Sy was appointed as the new Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) chairman, I’ve always wanted to know his plans for Cebu sports.
I got that chance in an interview last July 17, 2019 and what he shared was impressive.
After identifying 21 sports the CCSC will focus on, Sir Chao said he is willing to allocate as much as P1 million per sport.
That’s P1 million per year, which means the 21 sports will have a little over P80,000 a month to spend for their programs.
I don’t know about the other sports, but in football, that P80,000 a month could fund a couple of tournaments already, maybe even a seminar or two.
And mind you, under the CCSC, futsal and football will get separate funding.
I hope the Central Visayas Football Association, formerly the Cebu Football Association and the CCSC can work together on this one. One advantage of the CVFA is that its calendar of tournaments and seminars is sychronized, hence there are no conflicts of schedules.
I know one of the directions the CVFA is looking at is an inner-city futsal tournament involving the barangays and this is where a partnership with CCSC can help. The CVFA can run the tournaments and the clinics, while the CCSC can provide the funding.
Perhaps, too, this will be the perfect time to revive the Mayor’s Cup football tournament, which had a first and last edition a few years ago. Scheduled between the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association and the Palarong Pambansa, it gave the elementary and high school team the perfect tuneup before going to the national meet.
I hope the athletics and swimming community will take advantage of Sy’s plans too. These are two medal-rich sports but unfortunately, the competition is mostly limited to school-based meets. A little outside-the-box thinking might do wonders like the Mindanao Blue Knights Track League. Started by Ateneo de Davao University track and field coach Airnel Abarra, it provided athletes regular competition so they won’t have to wait for the Department of Education meets to hone their skills.
Can something similar be done here? I sure hope so. The Blue Knights league was started by one man with a vision and all it takes is just a similar guy with a vision to do the same thing here.