Cebu City does it again

Cebu City has done it again in the Philippine Olympic Festival (POF) winning gold medals in judo, football, karatedo, and swimming in Cagayan de Oro City.

First to relay the good news was my teammate back our college days and now our president of the Cebu Chapter of the Philippine Amateur Judo Association (PAJA), Atty. Vicente E. Fernandez II.

Inting, as we fondly call him, sent me a text message last Friday about the Cebu City team winning a gold medal and two bronzes.

Late Saturday night, coach Kidd Nicart was frantically trying to reach people at my office and eventually found me to relay the good news about the Under-17 and Under-15 football teams doing well in the competition.

Both teams eventually bagged the gold medal and also our swimmers got some gold along with the karatekas. 

I remember last year all the trouble we had to go through to help our Under-15 football team and the judo team to get to Manila for the POF. Thanks to the Visayan Electric Company through Dennis Garcia and with the very able assistance of Paul Hubahib, we managed to send both teams to Manila and they delivered gold medals.

This year, it was so much easier, I think, as the city government shouldered the expenses of the team and even supported their participation in the regional eliminations in Dumaguete City.

While I believe in giving more people access to the meager resources of the city for sports development, I also believe that those who compete in legitimate national competitions must also be given support.

The city government cannot afford to shoulder everything, but there would always be ways to find sponsors, but rarely on very short notice.

I applaud the members of Team Cebu City in the POF for their feat and I hope we would continue to get the support of both government and the private sector for our athletes.

As a former athlete, I was probably lucky to have a supportive family, who made sure I would make it to Manila during national judo tournaments and that I would have enough money for food and lodging.

I am happy that now, we have more government and private sector support for sports and I pray that this continues as we continue our search for that elusive Olympic gold medal.

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It felt different last Saturday playing alongside my son Nico in a tournament for the first time in our lives. I’m sure that won’t be the first and last, but the first one is always special.

Our flight, which included Nico’s godfather, Rico Rey Francis ‘Koko’ Holganza along with his fellow lawyers Mat Jo and Pete Flores, who were very patient and understanding to the plight of a 12-year-old duffer and his equally golf-challenged father.

Anyway, it was a great day to play and the weather cooperated during the two days of the Christmas Fun Golf Classic at Alta Vista Golf and Country Club.

I’d like to congratulate the winners led by my good friend Emir Abutazil, who bagged the overall title with his tournament-best gross score of one-under-par 70 strokes.

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MILESTONES: I would like to wish my good friend Apollo Emmanuel D. Oriel a belated happy birthday. He turned a year older yesterday along with Isuzu’s Lotlot Labrador-Neri.

Happy birthday to boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and also to our executive director of the Cebu City Sports Commission, Gene Faelnar, who both turn a year older today.

More power to all of you! (THE FREEMAN)