The Cebu Youth Basketball League (CYBL) will keep moving forward.
This was the statement of Popoy Navarro, the eldest son of the late Cebuano sports great and CYBL founder Rico Navarro, who vowed to help keep his father’s legacy alive by taking reins of the grassroots-focused basketball program that has helped so many young athletes take the next step in their respective careers.
Founded in 2010, the CYBL started off as a tournament that sought to fill in the gap. A decade later, it has since partnered with the MVP Sports Foundation to create the MVPSF Youth Basketball League-Cebu, a tournament that attracted over a hundred teams before games got suspended back in March.
However, players and coaches alike were left to ruminate on what the league would become with the untimely passing of Navarro a few weeks ago. The younger Navarro, Popoy, stepped up with an answer, saying, “Duwa gihapon ta.”
“We will continue that thrust and reach out to even more aspiring basketball players who want to join the CYBL. That will never stop. With the help of the MVP Sports Foundation, we will continue making the CYBL the premier tournament for grassroots basketball in Cebu,” Navarro continued.
“Obviously, right now we can’t have any basketball tournaments, but we’re cooking up online activities to keep the CYBL community active and somehow connected to basketball. We’ll be announcing this soon so stay tuned. We’re also constantly monitoring the IATF guidelines and are already preparing in advance on how we can run a safe tournament in the future,” shared Navarro.
Navarro said that everyone’s efforts moving forward would pay tribute to his late father.
“All papa wanted when he started CYBL was to fill in the gaps in grassroots development and create a year-long sports program that will help develop the Cebuano basketball youth. That’s also the way he lived his life. He wanted to help fill in the gaps and help people become better versions,” said Navarro.
“That’s also the way I want to continue to honor his legacy. We need to continue looking for those gaps to fill in. For sure daghan pa na, and off the top of my head, a good concrete example right now would be women’s basketball in Cebu. Wa pa tay grassroots development diha and that’s something I’m looking forward to developing in the future. Pero again I’m sure there are more gaps to fill, and I really believe that’s the best way that I can help sustain the legacy of papa,” Navarro said. (JNP)