UNIVERSITY of San Carlos Baby Warriors head coach Britt Carlo Reroma has issued an apology to Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. commissioner Felix Tiukinhoy and to the rest of the board.
In a letter dated Aug. 23 to Cesafi president Fr. Manny Uy SJ, of Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, Reroma expressed his apology to the board and to Tiukinhoy for trying to field a player whose eligibility was under question.
Earlier, Tiukinhoy asked the board in his incident report and recommendation letter to suspend Reroma for one year for putting the league and its members in a bad light, a violation stated in Paragraph 3.5 of Section F of the Amended Rules and Regulations of Cesafi.
“I would like to express my sincere apology to Felix Tiukinhoy...I really didn’t have any intention to put the Cesafi in a bad light. Thus, I assure you that it won’t happen again,” Reroma said.
Tiukinhoy said Reroma acted arrogantly when he tried to field Scott Aying when he knew that his player was not qualified to play.
Reroma said that since USC was able to give an explanation letter to Tiukinhoy regarding their position on the memorandum order that disqualified Aying, he thought it was okay to field his player.
“I was just following the school’s order in trying to let Scott Aying play since there was a letter to the Cesafi screening committee explaining the school’s side. During the game against UV in the second quarter, Tiukinhoy approached our bench and told us, ‘Ug imo na paduwa-on for even one second I will forfeit your game,’” Reroma said.” So, I obliged and followed the commissioner and I did not insist on letting Scott Aying play since I respected him as our commissioner.”
USC-BED officials, coaching staff and parents sent a letter last Aug. 5 asking the board to lift the disqualification of Aying and asked Tiukinhoy to make a public apology to the Baby Warriors for placing the player in an embarrassing situation.
Tiukinhoy, for his part, said it was Reroma who put Aying in an embarrassing situation when he tried to field the player when the screening committee already disqualified him for lack of residency.
However, the Cesafi board upheld the decision of the screening committee headed by Tiukinhoy, then asked Reroma to answer the letter of the commissioner that recommended a one-year suspension.
“Lastly, I am appealing to the Cesafi board to let me continue my coaching duties at the University of San Carlos High School basketball team,” Reroma said.