ALMOST anything that can be tweaked for the Sinulog has been tweaked. Except for one thing, Sinulog sports.
Every Sinulog week, sports take a backseat. Sure, we have the Sinulog Cups for bowling and basketball, but they happen either weeks before or after the grand event or are sometimes, just riding on the name. I think the only official sports-related Sinulog event is the Cebu marathon, which happens a week before the grand parade.
Well, why not expand that?
For starters, we can have the participant-heavy Sinulog Bowling Cup as part of the calendar of events since bowlers tend to bring family members when they fly in to Cebu. Bowling tournaments organized by Cetba or BTA are well-organized, well-funded and draw a lot of entries. City Hall could perhaps help them by shouldering their prizes if they become part of the Sinulog calendar of activities.
I can’t hit 100 in bowling even if my life depended on it but I like the sport and I’ve seen how the local community has made the sport grow on their own. Giving the organizers of the Sinulog Cup official backing might perhaps give their event a much-needed boost.
Who knows, with bowling a popular sport all over the world, we can draw international participants?
We can also add a Sinulog Cup for tennis, which also draws a lot of entries. Tennis events in Cebu regularly draw out-of-town participants and if you hold a tournament during Sinulog week, you give these participants an incentive to join the Cebu event because they also get to watch the Sinulog.
The biggest issue to consider of course is the schedule. I think any “Sinulog Cup” should be held before the Sinulog so the participants will only have the Grand Parade to think of, or the Solemn Procession, after their stint.
Another advantage of expanding the sports programs during the Sinulog is it could perhaps channel the “pa cool kids” energy into something more wholesome and worthwhile. Every Sinulog, we hear stories and see pictures of young people doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. Heck, did you hear about the canceled concert at the Fuente Osmeña circle?
This way, there’s a better option for them.