CESAFI 2012

Another CESAFI kicks off today at the Cebu Coliseum, marking the 12th season of the Cebu’s main inter-collegiate tournament that traces its roots way, way back. Coming to the forefront anew is the annual grand opening which will be highlighted by the usual “grand palabas” of the member schools.

But when the dust from the opening clears up, basketball action will start as the main feature of the sports competitions. This season’s basketball tournament will showcase the might of Southwestern University (SWU) and the University of the Visayas (UV), and the slowing down of the back-to-back champions University of Cebu (UC) in the collegiate division. Meanwhile, the high division looks like another tight race among defending champion UV, 2010-2011 runner-up Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and 2010 champion Cebu Eastern College (CEC). The collegiate scene will mark the start of the post-June Mar Fajardo days. After leading UC to back-to-back titles, Fajardo has moved on to the pros and this has suddenly made UC an ordinary team on paper. This, coupled with the latest recruitment activities, has made SWU and UV favorites to clash in a championship and leaving everyone else to settle for third place. After bringing in Justin Aboude of Cameroon, the Cobras have tapped the services of a second Cameroonian in Benoit Mbala. Their presence alone is enough to make them favorites for the title. Remember that they stretched the Fajardo-led UC team to the limit in last year’s championship series with then rookie Aboude. And with Fajardo out of the way, who can stop them? Without a Fajardo, maybe another Cameroonian will do? So bring in Steve Cedrick Akomo for the UV Lancers. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. It sure looks like getting Cameroonians is turning out to be the in thing these days. After losing Greg Slaughter to Ateneo de Manila in 2010, UV was suddenly weak at the center spot and failed to snare their tenth straight title. Worse, they didn’t make it to the finals for the first time in eleven years last season under a rookie coach who had the huge task of leading UV to a title. With the entry of Akomo, this weak spot is now covered, giving UV a relatively easy ride back to the finals. The rest of the pack will fight for third and it will be a level playing field among University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR), Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), University of San Carlos (USC), University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF) and UC. There’s another foreign player, Stephen Que of the University of San Carlos, but he hasn’t raised any “excitement” due to his lack of size. But you never know, he might just pull out a surprise. The other major feature of the collegiate scene is the entry of Cebu legend Julian Macoy as the new coach of USC and the move of Mike Reyes to SWU as assistant coach to Yayoy Alcoseba.

UV will be the leading favorite in the high school division for the second straight year. With 2011 MVP Paul Desiderio back in the groove along with their veteran holdovers from last year’s team, they’ll be tough to take down. The presence of the now more mature players from their Passerelle team of last year makes them even deeper. SHS-Ateneo de Cebu and CEC will be the top challengers to UV’s throne. Both teams’ holdovers from last year as not as solid as those of UV, but they’re all certified to play hard and will look to score an upset. The other teams that will pull out a few surprises include CIT-U, USJR, USPF, UC and USC.

While basketball will be the main feature, it’s worth mentioning that CESAFI is not all about basketball. The opening also serves as the launch of the CESAFI’s other events where tough battles are also waged. Volleyball is the second most popular sport for both the level of talents that there is present and the controversy that has arisen over the years. Both these elements make it exciting and a good alternative to basketball. The other events also worth watching although which could make use of more fan support include football, athletics (track and field) and swimming. And there’s more: chess, tennis, dancesport, karatedo, taekwondo, sepak takraw and badminton.

Here’s wishing luck to all teams in the CESAFI 2012 season. May the CESAFI flourish and find more ways to keep on improving to become the undisputed sports leader in the Vismin.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Carl Veloso! >>> You can reach me at [email protected].