Sports greats

 After a four-year hiatus, another set of athletes will be enshrined into the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame today.

The Cebu Sports Hall of Fame was organized in 1989 and the first batch was enshrined the year after.

The purpose of this hall of fame is to recognize Cebuano athletes, who have given honor to the country, our city and our province. Originally, the rules were very strict with regards to who shall be qualified for enshrinement as only native-born Cebuanos were accepted.

Later on, the screening committee composed of Wilfredo ‘Boy’ Veloso, Orland ‘Orlacsan’ Sanchez, and Atty. Manuel ‘Manny’ Oyson, realized that there were many athletes and sportsmen, who were not born here, but have contributed a lot to Cebu sports, thus the special honorees were included.

Although my original involvement in the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame was only to cover the meetings and the enshrinement rites, I was eventually asked to fill the spot of Orlacsan in the committee when he passed on in 1994.

I have been a part of the committee on a formal capacity since then and am now the only remaining member after Boy Veloso and Atty. Oyson also passed on in 2001 and 2006, respectively.

I can still feel some shivers when I recall our last screening committee meeting with Atty. Oyson in 2005 when he said that since Sanchez and Veloso were enshrined into the hall of fame after they died, it would follow he will be too. He said it in jest, but I did not realize that he would also suddenly leave.

Mayor Michael Rama, who asked me to revive the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame emphasized the need to recognize people while they are still alive in order to savor the honor.

There is no doubt that my three predecessors were all legends in the field of sportswriting and the shoes that they have left were so huge to fill for a deadline beater like me.

Today, we will revive something that they have started and hope to keep it going for many more years and hopefully generations to come.

As a former athlete, I know for a fact that our sporting years don’t last very long. The Cebu Sports Hall of Fame, thus, becomes some sort of a pedestal where great deeds can be remembered and told over and over again to the new generation.

To be enshrined today are Federico Ybañez, a former tabletennis national team member; Maria Belen Rusiana, a former volleyball national team member and SEA Games gold medalist; and the M. Lhuillier-Cebu football team of 1988.

To qualify for enshrinement, one must have brought honor to the country in international competitions or is considered a legend in the field of sports and a native-born Cebuano or a Cebu resident.

The screening committee will have to go over the nomination and would require documents to back up the nomination.

Nominations for the Cebu Sports Hall of Fame will be accepted all year round by the Cebu City Sports Commission.

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MILESTONES: Belated happy birthday greetings to Fr. Julian Hernando, S.J., who turned a year older last Sunday.

The same goes to the celebrants on Valentine’s Day, Sir Butch Cabanban, Marcianito Ymbong, Lexerian Andrino, and Janette Yap.

Belated greetings also go to Alex Escalante and Sarah Durano-Bosley, who turned a year older yesterday.

Today’s greetings go to Joyce Abaño and Glena Lim.

More power to all of you!