Volunteers and the Mantawi team

Do you want to be one of us?

This is not a line from a phone company's advertisement, but an appeal for volunteers to help make the 2005 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines a success.

Olympian and SEA Games multi-gold medallist Akiko Thomsom together with Raul Dominic Badilla of the National Youth Commission were in town yesterday to go around the various schools and recruit volunteers for the SEA Games.

Akiko, who once donned the country's colors in the pool, said that around 4,000 volunteers are needed for Cebu alone. Cebu will be hosting some events of the SEA Games this November 27 to December 5 such as Dancesport, Judo, Karatedo, Moutainbiking, Pencak Silat, and Sepak Takraw.

We're still hoping that indoor volleyball will be moved to Cebu.

If we get volleyball, then there will probably more than 4,000 that would be needed.

Volunteers from ages 15 and up are welcome. If you want to be one, you can visit the office of the Cebu SEA Games Organizing Committee (Cebu SOC) at the Cebu City Sports Center or log on to www.2005seagames.com.ph.

Deadline for registration to become a volunteer is on September 30.

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I was with the three men behind the Mantawi Hapee-Dew Foam Sparkling Nights in the National Basketball Conference (NBC) the other afternoon enjoying our coffee and the company.

I'm referring to Jack Huang, Dewey 'Junde' Choachuy, Jr. and Coach Jun Noel.

Jack, my compadre, is the team manager and represents happy, Junde is from Dew Foam a business set up by his father, while coach Jun is the man who steers the team in the battles they face.

The team just came from a three-game swing in Luzon. After losing in Baguio City, the team rebounded big time with victories against heavy favorites Parañaque and Taguig. How did that happen was definitely something of interest.

Coach Jun said that the team had one of its regular bonding sessions after the loss to Baguio. In the session, they talked about what was bugging the team and what has happened to the system that they had in place.

It obviously worked as the team had a complete turn around and scored those big wins to put them side by side the other Cebu squad - Tribu Sugbu - at 7-4.

The battle for supremacy of the two Cebu teams is just heating up.

With both teams left with two games apiece, these remaining matches will both be crucial in their bid for outright seats in the semifinals.

Both will face Manila and then will go up against each other early September. No one can afford a loss or drop to third in the Southern division that would have them battling with three other teams for the last two semis slot.

I'm already excited to see these two games and surely the fans will be equally interested to see how this goes.

Junde, whose company is best known for its support for powerlifting said, that the exposure they are getting through basketball has been very good.

He added that it was not really too hard to decide to team up with Hapee since they knew it was a winning team.

With the semifinals in sight, the Mantawi team is meeting it targets.

There are still many more battles to fight in the next several weeks including having to help carry the country's colors in an event set at Hat Yai, Thailand. Yes folks, it's Hat Yai (pronounced Had Jai) not Haad Yai as reported.

The fans of the Mantawi Sparkling Nights surely have something big to look forward to and the city government is also giving its all-out support including Mayor Thadeo Ouano, who never fails to attend the home ssgames.