Baseball was the first sport I played growing up in a sleepy town in Mindanao and I remember as kids, we dreamed of making the Solidpack, that select group that somehow got to play in the national little league finals.
There were a select few who made the national youth team and got sent to the Asia Pacific eliminations.
I know how hard it is to make the national finals so I was pretty impressed when I learned that the Carmen Stallions have been a regular in the national finals for a decade. Some of its members, too, have been given scholarships by UAAP schools, a testament to how good the players are.
And it’s not just in baseball that Carmen is good at but also softball, and proof of that is how it swept the titles in the Provincial Meet.
I hope Carmen officials realize how lucky they are to have a sports community that has managed to develop a strong batted sports culture and take advantage of this by helping them develop the sport.
Barotac became a football hotbed and the recognized football capital of the country because of the tieup between the community and the LGU and I see Carmen becoming the batted sports capital of Cebu should that happen.
Remember how Bacolod’s softball team made international news last year because of its strong showing in the world championships? Given Carmen’s pedigree, that’s not far from happening. But of course, it all boils down to support -- the private sector or the family support can only do so much.
Consider this, Carmen’s softball teams, the same ones that beat the competition by a mile in the Provincial Meet, won’t be playing in the national finals because the Stallions can’t afford to send them.
And it’s a wasted opportunity.
Carmen missed out on developing a football culture despite the storied Carmen football team of two decades back, one of the best youth teams in the country.
I hope it won’t make the same mistake with its batted sports team.
I found it ironic that on the day our paper carried Carmen’s financial struggles, my friend Manny V of the Freeman published Carmen’s basketball open.
There’s nothing wrong with holding basketball tournaments but funding in sports shouldn’t be limited to basketball while a nationally competitive team is left soliciting funds for its players’ food in a national finals.
If Carmen needs some prodding to know which sport it should prioritize, just ask this simple question — when was the last time a basketball player from the town earned a scholarship in Manila?
Its baseball players earning scholarship means a pipeline is opened, one that is only effective if its baseball community prospers.