AFTER eight weeks of intensive training, the members of the East Asia Super League (EASL) Future Champions Elite Cebu Team have been finally selected and are now set to compete in the three-day Hong Kong All-Star Tournament on July 24-26, 2026.
During an awarding ceremony on Wednesday, June 17, coaches and trainers led by Joel Co announced the 10 young players who will comprise the EASL Future Champions Elite Cebu All-Star Team.
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival and Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) chairman Rhoel Dejaño attended
the ceremony.
The selected players are Domenic de Asis, Dwayne Rojo, Venz Nadela, Dereck Wenceslao, Kent Labitad, Brix Hernando, Kiefer Villarin, Duke Tadlas, Mc Dome de Asis, and Ian Inocencio. Five other players were also named as reserves.
The team will continue training at the City Sports Institute Gym as part of its preparations for the tournament in Hong Kong, where it will face other EASL All-Star teams from various countries.
EASL Future Champions training director Michael Olson thanked the 40 young athletes who committed themselves to the eight-week
training program.
He emphasized that even those who were not selected for the final roster of 10 would still benefit from the experience and lessons gained throughout the program.
“After spending the last eight weeks with you all, I am more excited than ever to see what happens going forward. Congratulations to each and every one of you and thank you for making this inaugural season such a memorable success,” Olson during
the ceremony.
For his part, Co expressed pride in the success of the program, admitting that selecting the final roster was a
difficult task.
“Selecting 40 from the 200-plus kids at the start was hard for us. If I could just bring all 40 to Hong Kong, why not? But after all, this is a victory for all of us who were part of this selection process. Having said that, congratulations to everyone,” said Co.
The EASL Future Champions Elite Cebu program began on April 12 after attracting more than 200 participants during the tryouts.
The field was eventually trimmed down to 40 players, who were divided into four teams and trained under the guidance of EASL coaches.
Dejaño described the program as a tremendous opportunity for young athletes and a source of inspiration for them to pursue their dreams.
“Learning from world-class coaches inspires them to dream bigger in basketball,” Dejaño said.
During the event, EASL also handed out five individual awards based on the tournament competitions.
In the team competition, the Cebu Waves, coached by Frank Dysam, emerged as champions.
The individual awardees were Labitad (Best Defensive Player), Wenceslao (Best Teammate), Noah Jordan Zak (Sportsmanship Award), Villarin (Most Coachable Player), and Domenic de Asis (Most Valuable Player).
Aside from Co and Dysam, the EASL Future Champions Elite Cebu coaching staff also included Jed Cabellon, John Llanto, and Jeremy Capacio. / JBM