A blueprint for the future

Mandaue City recently concluded its 6th Mayor’s Cup which is usually held in conjunction with the annual fiesta celebration in honor of St. Joseph.

It was very satisfying to note that the future of sports in the city is assured, at least in the next three to five years.

This  assurance is given by the number of new athletes who have emerged in various sports like basketball, volleyball, chess, boxing, arnis, table tennis and karatedo, while those who were rookies going back to the 1st and 2nd edition of the annual rite of passage have ripened into stars in their own right.

A good example is the women’s volleyball team of Barangay Umapad.

Five years ago, the girls looked so diminutive, I was wondering how they were able to receive and return the volleyball. Two years after, they were able to contend for the championship. They did this for two years, playing bridesmaid to the powerful Barangay Looc team, sponsored by the generous volleyball patrons Nic-Nic and Linda Froilan.

This year, not showing a thread of weakness, the Umapad belles finally broke through.

Towed by their only accredited superstar, Apple Saraum, they finally got the win that had eluded them, sweetened by the fact that it was achieved through a win over their erstwhile nemesis.

All the players in the team who are already in college, are mainstays at the different volleyball varsity teams in Cebu. Those who graduated from high school this year were intensely recruited by the same squads and are ready to enter the different tournaments in the local and national  arenas.

All these did not happen by accident.

A  good part of the credit goes to their trainer and coach Dindo Alilin. To prove that his championship team is not a flash in the pan, Coach Dindo mentored his Central Visayas Girl’s Volleyball team to a runner-up finish in the recently concluded Palarong Pambansa.

There are others like Coach Dindo with the same love and commitment for the game of volleyball, and through the years they have produced excellent athletes who have written their own footprints in the volleyball courts.

Just to name a few you have Roberto Mendoza, Dino Aribal, Cosme Cabusa, Leo Baldapan, Jerry Pedriguez, and of course the most bemedalled volleyball player from Mandaue, Grace Antigua.

As usual, it is  basketball that has produced so many emerging future stars.

When I took over the position as Executive Director of the Mandaue Sports Commission, I was dismayed by the dearth of talent available.

This year however, a virtual minefield of basketball crop is due for harvest in various age categories. This is the advantage of our favorite national past time.

Basketball players grow like weed, and it needs very little intervention to unearth a Filipino basketeer.

The daily fare of premier basketball games aired on television are not only instructional but also motivational. We can just imagine how many dreams and fantasies are created by the spectacular moves of JV Casio or an LA Tenorio.

All that the sports need to do is to organize tournaments which would allow the players to benchmark their talents against the rest of the population.

Success is also in giving a barrio athlete the confidence that he is capable of playing the big time.

Amateur boxing, as long as Tony Aldeguer continues to collaborate with Mandaue, will always bring glory to the city. The re-election of Mayor Jonas  Cortes and his entire team assures continuity in the sports program of Mandaue City.

What happens after his term is a big question, judging from happenings in the past.

For whatever reason, the arts, culture, education and sports were in a barren state, for reasons which  is no longer necessary to dig out.

Hopefully, the efforts that were put in and the fruits gained will be allowed to continue, free from any external consideration, because sports, like arts, culture and education should be beyond mundane concerns like petty politics.