Cebu sports stars gather

WILFRED Uytengsu was in Cebu yesterday to accept his award as the Sportsman of the Year from the 35th San Miguel Brewery-Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SMB-SAC) Sports Awards at SM City Cebu.

Uytengsu addressed the more than 100 athletes and acknowledged their sacrifices but also reminded them to take the lessons they learned from being an athlete for the future.

“Everyone here has been willing to sacrifice, endure pain and persevere when you felt you couldn’t push another inch,” he said.

He added that competing in the highest level is something they cannot do forever and that they must look at the second chapters in their lives.

“So how do we take what we learned as athletes and transform that into an endeavour that is meaningful? Some can become coaches and help the next generation of athletes to become better. Some go into business. Some even pursue politics...What I want to leave everyone here with is that through sports ,the lessons of teamwork, hard work, sportsmanship, discipline, motivation and sacrifice are amongst the greatest life lessons we can ever learn. Take these lessons to heart while you are an athlete competing but also remember these lessons and attributes when it is time for your journey to change,” he added.

SAC President Mike Limpag also said that yesterday’s celebration wasn’t just for athletes but also for “parents, coaches, titos, titas, yayas because they are part of these athletes’ sucess.”

During the awards, members of SAC also performed the SAC themsong, We Are One, which is composed and performed by Erwin Lirazan, Jingo Quijano, Rommel Manlosa and Lemuel Maglinte.