RAISING a child could take a village but for Dumanjug it took the whole town to breed a new set of champions, thanks to hardworking coach Antonio Guellan Zozobrado.
Nesting in southwestern Cebu three hours from the city, this humble town known for its basketball program is also developing a name in volleyball.
“Daghng mag-ingun nga lig-on ug hayag ang team,” said Zozobrado, the Dumanjug head coach.
The head coach for the volleyball team in Dumanjug told SunStar Cebu how local players are enthusiastic about forming a team and how Mayor Gungun Gica supported the program.
“It’s not only the mayor but the players also said they wanted to play. They approached me that they wanted to form a team and I also approached the LGU since we will be bringing the name of the town,” he said.
Dumanjug is currently competing in the Mayor Inocentes Cabaron Invitational Inter-town volleyball tournament with its men’s team holding a 3-3 record and its women’s team owning an impressive 5-1 mark.
For the Moalboal tournament, Dumanjug is fielding John Vincent Paller, Evron Gimena, Ronald Ansag Jr., Yojiel Bayno, Mark Renan Mamac, Jerd Po Quillano, John Sealtiel Belocura, Alan Vicent Escuadro, Neiljune Contratista, McGraw Alfanta, R-Jay Limbaga, Jarade Esrael Navarro, Gerard Quirante and Kandrick Silagpo in the men's division.
In the women's division, Dumanjug is represented by Alliana Sophia Tangkay, Trixie Hernan, Mary Ann Calago, Kian Mae Belocura, Marlyn Yucada, Renalyn Mamac, Leslie Boquia, Karen Mae Nemenzo, Jenne Fe Patlingrao, Eunice Navarro, Gennifer Walog, Hannah Lourine Serencio, Sassi Imperial and Arianne Nicole Martinez.
Zozobrado is a Dumanjug native and graduated from the University of Cebu as a varsity player.
He also started coaching while a student at UC and later on became an assistant coach during the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi), Milo Little Olympics, and the Cebu City as well as different tournaments around Cebu.
“I started coaching when I was a student in UC in 1998 up to the present,” said Zozobrado.
When he started teaching Physical Education at Cebu Technological University-Moalboal Campus in 2005, he also returned to Dumanjug and slowly started scouting players in inter-barangay leagues and he saw many with the potential to be good players.
“We cannot train height but we can train skills,” said Zozobrado.
Through this, the inter-barangay leagues became their training ground to develop skills.
“Even if we can’t hold regular practices, because there are so many inter-barangay tournaments, the games there serve as their training sessions,” he said.
Aside from skills he also looks at the passion of the players.
“It doesn’t matter how tall you are, but if you have the skills and passion for the sport, you will get into the team. We also look at the attitude of the players because if they have the right attitude, they will easily blend with the team.
He also said that he already has a lot of potential high school from Dumanjug aged between 13 and 15 who are 5-foot-6 or 5-foot-8.
“It also brings me pride that I was able to share my skills because that will serve as my legacy, the kids would say that ‘I was able to learn volleyball from him,’”
Zozobrado said.