Scholarship offers

Many questions about what good the Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball (GUV) Cup can bring have been answered during a press conference early this week at the GA Grill.

One of the biggest questions has been "what good can it bring to the players?"

Since I have been part of the planning stage of this tournament, one of things that we anticipated would happen will be the discovery of new talents for the schools.

I actually did not feel that it might just happen immediately, but I am totally wrong.

The coaches of some universities are now busy scouting for talent to man not only their collegiate, but also their high school teams. If this is not something good that has come out of the tournament, I wonder what is?

With the problems that many pre-need companies face particularly two that would have secured the college education of many of our children, including mine, athletic scholarship is now one of the best options for talented youth to earn an education.

In the 1990s, the United States Army had a very convincing ad on Sports Illustrated. It had the picture of a young man trying to shoot a basketball. The caption said something like "if your son doesn't have a good jump shot and you don't have several thousands of dollars to spare, then how do you send him to college?"

With many Americans earning their college money by serving the armed forces, it is an option for the parents.

Here in the Philippines, we can't talk of the same scenario. But, if there is a school that would offer your child, free education through sports, then better not take too long to decide. If there is more than one school offering you a scholarship, then the decision might be more difficult to make since you'll have to choose which is better.

These prized finds from the GUV Cup will be the future of Cebu volleyball. This should be reason enough to keep the tournament going for the next several years and hopefully expand it to also cover other sports.

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Aside from the offers for athletic scholarships, there are also many town mayors, who are bent on developing the volleyball skills of their constituents.

The Cebu Volleyball Association (CEVA) has already received several invitations to hold clinics in the towns.

If the interest stirred through the GUV Cup will be echoed to all the municipalities of Cebu, then we shall have a bigger base of players in the future.

If this year, there are a few talents who have been discovered, then with these clinics and the all-out support of the officials, we will have more talents to be discovered in the coming years.

Just try to imagine what would happen, if other sports that would be included.

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MILESTONES: Advanced birthday greetings for Monday to two 'big brothers' who are turning a year older.

First is Joselito 'Jiji' Gullas, the AVP Finance of the University of the Visayas. The second is my former judo coach, Leonardo 'Jojo' Roa, Jr.

They have guided me through life like big brothers to turn to for advice and forever I am grateful for what they've done to help me reach my goals.

Happy birthday greetings also go to Luke Pomeroy 'Pom-pom' C. Veloso, the eldest son of Carl and Lisa, who is turning a year older today.

More power to all of you!