A few days before Antonio Trillanes IV disrupted the normal activities of the country last Thursday with another takeover of a five-star hotel in Makati, I was in a meeting with the officers of the Cebu Volleyball Association (CEVA) to discuss the possibility of doing a program that would be implemented in the various towns and cities of the province.
I was actually deep in thought about how volleyball can become a source of livelihood in the towns for those who will attend trainings and get accreditation as coaches and game officials, when news about the Trillanes walking out of his trial was flashed on TV.
I wanted to focus on the good things that were about to happen for volleyball and a talk on sportswriting that I had to do later that day for the Regional Schools Press Conference at the Cebu City National Science High School, but the looming crisis in Makati was something that even made me lose my appetite for lunch.
This is no political column, but let me just make this clear, I condemn the latest caper of Trillanes and I hope justice will really be served.
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Since I started to mention volleyball in the early part of this column, allow me to continue.
In our meeting of the CEVA officers led by our president Glenn Anthony Soco, we discussed what things ought to be done to support the Gov. Gwendolyn F. Garcia Unity Volleyball (GUV) Cup, that is now considered as the biggest of its kind in the country.
While the GUV Cup is a showcase of the best players from all over the province, it is important that the activities to support the tournament in terms of enhancing the skills of the players, coaches and officials, must also be done.
Antonio ‘Jun’ San Juan, a basketball player turned volleyball player when he fell in love with Ma. Chona ‘Marichu’ Jao of the Jao twins fame, is collating the various inputs that we gave during the meeting.
Jun, the VP of CEVA who is actively into tennis these days, is one of the pillars of CEVA along with his wife Marichu and of course our super active director, Andrew Choachuy of Sunsport.
If the plans push through and we get the cooperation of the town and city officials, volleyball will surely become even bigger in Cebu than what it is today.
Glenn’s dream is for Cebu to once again be a rich source of talent for the national team and I believe that is attainable.
But for now, the best incentive at stake for the players in the GUV Cup is their chance to get free college or high school education in the major colleges and universities of Cebu as athletic scholars.
We already have several of them enjoying such opportunity and the CEVA surely would like to do more.
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Those who haven’t signed up for the Alta Vista Christmas Fun Golf Classic yet must do so ASAP because there are limited slots available.
Entry fee is only P2,500 and the giveaways alone are worth more than twice what you pay for.
Contact the AVGCC registration counter now at 272-7977.
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MILESTONE: I’d like to greet our chairman at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, Engr. Matias ‘Tito Bombi’ Aznar III a very happy birthday.
He’s not only chairman of the club, but also has been a very active officer of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary. As a golfer, he is known as one of those who made a hole-in-one several times, but he is most popular for being a consistent winner in the raffles.
More power!