AFTER the boys had their shot last year, it’s now the turn of the girls to be showcased as the girls futsal event of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. kicks off on Jan. 27 at the University of San Carlos gym.
Futsal has the most unique competition in Cesafi as it is the only event where high school and college players compete against each other. And this year, the favorites again are rivals Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and St. Theresa’s College. The other teams are the rebuilding University of San Carlos, the University of San Jose-Recoletos, the University of Southern Philippines Foundation and guest team Sisters of Mary.
Regular Cesafi members Cebu Doctors University, Velez College, University of Cebu, Southwestern University, the University of the Visayas and Cebu Institute of Technology-University don’t have entries but I hope that will change soon.
Just like the men’s football competition, the Cesafi futsal tournament uses the double round robin format with the top two teams advancing to the championship.
That’s at least 10 games for each participant, giving the players enough time to hone their skills if they are just picking up the sport.
I think, like any event that has them, this will be a toss-up between the STC and Ateneo since the two schools have a long history against each other. Among the participants, the two are also the schools who’ve had futsal for the longest time, with USC playing catch up by hiring Apple Bariñan, who used to coach Ateneo.
With futsal being played in the intramurals of all the other Cesafi schools, I hope the rest of the team will be able to field teams in next year’s edition. I know some of the schools have a problem in finding the right coaches and here’s where the local association can step in.
If they want to, they can write the local FA and ask for a list of licensed coaches whom they can recommend to start a futsal program in their school. We have a lot of licensed coaches already and it’s just a matter of tapping the right one.
Girls futsal in Cebu is one of the best in the country and we only need to look at our performance in the Palarong Pambansa and in other national meets. So, if more schools join the Cesafi futsal tournament, it will only improve the sport some more.