WHILE scrolling down my Facebook page, I came a cross a petition on Change.org that SunStar Sports editor Mike Limpag started, calling on the Cebu City Government to upgrade the Cebu City Sports Complex football field by installing an artificial turf. I signed the petition in a heartbeat, and I urge you to do the same.
The petition, which was addressed to Cebu City Hall and Councilor Jerry Guardo, Chairman of the Committee of Youth and Sports, laments the miserable state of the current football field, which, as Mike points out, is “called the ‘worst pitch’ by some.”
“As a major footballing center in the country, it is unfortunate that Cebu City doesn’t have a decent football pitch,” Mike writes in the petition. “While the CCSC has hosted football tournaments in the past, it’s state, sadly, doesn’t reflect the football community.”
I join Mike and the rest of those in the football community who have long sought for a decent football field at the historic stadium in pushing for a practical, low-maintenance solution for the CCSC problem: an artificial pitch.
City Hall and Councilor Guardo don’t have to look far to realize that artificial fields are perfect for Cebu and its harsh, unpredictable weather. They only have to visit Campo Giuseppe Football Club in Banilad to see how durable, functional and low-maintenance an artificial grass pitch is.
The first of its kind in Cebu, Giuseppe pitch, with its proper drainage and base layer of soil and rubber granules, remains in good shape with little maintenance four years since it opened. Though smaller than a standard size field as it is designed for grassroots football and seven-aside matches, the pitch provides an idea why artificial turfs are the way to go for Cebu’s football fields.
And that exactly is what’s happening: a Fifa standard size artifial football pitch is rising near the South Road Properties in Cebu City. Last October, I attended the launch of Dynamic Herb Sports Complex, a football-specific stadium with an indoor sports facility, and I was impressed with the vision shared by managing director Ugur Tasci in addressing key lifestyle needs of Cebuanos.
Construction did start in December as promised, and while the series of storms hampered site activities that time, the good news is the shipment of turf and granules did arrive last January. “We’re targeting to setup the turf in three months’ time the most. Hopefully, the weather cooperates,” Dynamic Herb marketing and communications executive Astrid Erasga told me yesterday. “We’re finalizing a few details in structural design and then we can get the milestones in the project hopefully in the next two weeks.”
And while Dynamic Herb’s artificial turf is indeed something to look forward to, I’m also optimistic that City Hall will do the right thing and approve the CCSC football field upgrade. Cebu deserves and badly needs more decent football fields to reaffirm its status as a major footballing center in the country.