UC confident of defending title

CEBU, Philippines - Despite the hype of Yayoy Alcoseba’s presence as coach of Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras, defending champion University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters are confident that they can still make it to the finals of the 11th Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI), which opens tomorrow at the Cebu Coliseum.

UC Webmasters coach Roel Gomez said they hope to maintain a winning performance in the elimination round so as to have a sure slot in the finals.

“I believe and pretty much confident that with the balanced roster of players that we have for this season, we can make it to the finals and if that will happen, we have a greater chance of claiming the championship again,” Gomez said in a press conference yesterday at the Café Laguna at the Ayala Terraces.

“We will do whatever it takes to be in the finals again and claim back-to-back titles,” he said.

Another morale booster of the Webmasters will be their inclusion as the Philippines’ representative to the 26th Universiade Games 2011 in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China on August 10-23.

“This would be an added boost to the team since this could be considered as a once in a lifetime experience for the players and whatever they’ll learn in the tournament, they can apply it when they come back here for the CESAFI,” Gomez said.

Alcoseba, on the other hand, will make his comeback in the collegiate basketball as chief tactician of the Cobras.

Alcoseba has been in the league coaching the Cebu Doctors’ University and University of San Jose-Recoletos during the CAAA and this would be his first stint in the CESAFI.

“Coaching has always been my passion. No matter what the level of competition it may have, as long as you love the sport, we will always be there, to help the players and to somehow give them inspiration,” Alcoseba said.

With his return, most of the teams are pointing on SWU as the toughest team to beat this season with the performance that they had in a tournament in Maasin, Leyte.

“I haven’t seen the performance of other schools yet since I was not there during the Maasin tournament. But their impression would serve as a challenge for me as a coach come Cesafi tournament,” he said.

Meanwhile, this year’s CESAFI opening will already include all sporting events. Compared in the previous stagings, basketball and other sporting events’ opening were separate.

Aside from basketball, the other sporting events to be contested are badminton, chess, dancesport, football, lawn tennis, table tennis, karatedo, sepak takraw, volleyball, beach volley and swimming. (FREEMAN)