| `Homeboys' FC tests Thristy Cup |
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| Jack Biantan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 14 February 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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LONDON - THE biggest football festival in Cebu, the 5th edition of the Thirsty Cup will blast off Friday night at the lighted Cebu city Sports Complex with 230 teams from 14 categories compete for medals and trophies. Teams from Cagayan de Oro, Negros, Davao, Bacolod and even Manila are also joining the tournament according to organizer Neil Montesclaros. The tournament will kickoff at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and will then start at 7:30 in the morning on Saturday and Sunday. 'So far this is the biggest football festival in Cebu as far as I can remember. Bigger than the Aboitiz, Mizuno, Don Bosco and San Roque Festivals', he said in a long distance call from Cebu city. Highlighting the tournament is the fierce competition in the Men's Open category where a record of 37 teams are entered including the PinoySoccer.com sponsored Homeboys FC. The Homeboys FC has a formidable lineup composed of former players from Don Bosco Boys Home in Lilo-an Cebu, known as the 'football factory' of the province. They have won the men's Open title in the Mizuno Cup in November last year also played at the CCSC. DBBH is a powerhouse in Cebu football and has produced talented players who have played for several youth national teams, like local youth legends Jack-jack Abdula and Ramil Saldua. Those two players are not with the team though but former Adidas Cup national U-19 championship MVP Ian Uba has put back his football boots on after Homeboys coach and manager Robert Nicart convinced him to go back training. He has been training with the team for a month now and is ready to man the midfield for the Homeboys. Other players in the lineup include Willy striker Lemar Baunsit, tough defender Nino Zapanta, former USJ-R goalkeeper Alex Buanghug, the come backing and former left fullback of Southwestern University Nicanor Biboso. Baunsit now works as a computer programmer at the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ). Zapanta also works at the MEPZ, while Buanghug is a Cebu city policeman and Biboso is an elementary school teacher. But the player to watch is their ageless goalkeeper,the 39-year-old Leo Dizon, a former priest and spiritual director at the DBBH. Dizon refused to stop playing competitive football and has been playing for various local teams before he saw action for the Homeboys when the club was formed last November. Other teams lined up in the Men's Open are San Roque Royal United team A, CSCST, Lebensraum FC, Palm Dubai Travel and Tours, Tanjay FC of Negros Oriental for Group 1. In group 2, teams joining are USPF Alumni team A, BA United, Barili FC, Silliman University of Dumaguete city, and Hell Hounds. Homeboys-PinoySoccer.com is in group 3 with San Roque Royal United team B, Uptown United, UFCIT, and XP International. In group 4 are USP Alumni team B, Metropolitan, USC, Laos FC, and Ormoc FC while in Group 5 are Xantos FC team A, Maasin FC, People's Support, Danao FC, and USPF. In Group 6 are Don Bosco Alumni team A, San Roque FC, FC Balamban, Cebu Doc United, and Demolay FC, while in Group 7 teams are Xantos FC team B, University of the Visayas, CSCST-Danao, House of Hope, and Foundation University team A. Lastly in group 8 are Don Bosco Alumni team B, Foundation University team B, No To Drugs, and UP Cebu Alumni. With the absence of 11-aside football tournaments this year in Cebu, the 5-a-side and 7-a-aside festivals have thrived. The Don Bosco Festival was held last weekend and another Don Bosco Futsal Men's Open tournament is scheduled next month. The tournament is organized by Charlie Pages with the Don Bosco Alumni Football Club under Iry Henson and Montesclaros and sponsored by Thirsty Juices and Shakes company owned by the Pages family who also owns Bright Academy. CFA ELECTION SET For nth time the Cebu Football Association (CFA) according to Montesclaros will hold a board meeting by the end of this month to call for an election to elect new a set of officers. Cebu football coaches are already clamoring for a new election after Jonathan Maximo's term as president has ended last year. The election has been reset several times and this time the CFA should elect new officers so that Cebu's football development will not stop. The Visayas elimination tournament for the National Football championship is already set this summer but until now no local elimination tournament has been held. The Aboitiz Cup is supposed to be the elimination tournament for the local senior teams but summer is almost coming and yet there is no tournament yet. BEND IT SWEEPSTAKES Nineteen-year-old Dino is our winner for the month of January. He is a Bend It fan and loves football with all his heart. He likes to tryout for his school varsity team but his fitness denies him. He is also a Man United fan. I am sending Dino the England shirt today. Expect the shirt to arrive next week. GOD BLESS Email the author
ronaldo
said:
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| MikeH, Don Bosco is involved in the age-groups, not the men's division. it's the Don Bosco alumni who is playing in the men's division. both are separate football organizations. thus, demanding or expecting Don Bosco to form a men's league would be outrageous. if you remember, paul weiler demanded the same thing from the school a while back. he just didn't get it. i hope you eventually will. a cebu-league doesn't have to pattern itself after the european leagues. if anybody elsed notice, we actually have the capability to have our own league right now. allow me to elaborate. we already have manfred's tournament. we have the don bosco founder's cup and the queen city inter-club. if we could standardize these tournaments (meaning properly sanctioned officiating, standard game rules, etc.) these tournaments would be the cebu-league. the cebu-league doesn't need to be one single drawn-out double round robin event. it can be stretched out to 3-4 tournaments a year. to satisfy the demands of the sponsors, each tournament can have it's own champion (based on the point system of course). but the total points gained thru the 3-4 tournaments will be used to determine the overall champion. presto - we have our own cebu league. spreading the responsibility of organizing to several clubs lessens the demand and minimizes organizational burn-out. spreading the league via several tournaments also allows football to be played the whole year round. the downside here is that such a concept may be limited to 6-8 teams at the start. sponsorship for football is very hard and scarce. each tournament may have to be only a single round robin. but the success of such a concept is not dependent on one tournament bu on the sum of several. we only need a way to formaly link these tournaments together. this is just one practical approach to a cebu league. but it needs the cooperation and an open-minded football community to be implemented. |
Baldur
said:
| MikeH, DB is a school first and foremost. Football is a complementary event, albeit a very important one. For a real league, only the CFA can do that. The football community's needs will not be well served by a DB league. It needs, for lack of a better term, a Cebu League. Manfred's attempts are appreciated but his chief aim is the promotion of football while DB's is educational. I cannot imagine DB taking away resources from it's mandated aim of educating the youth just for a local league. The school facilities aren't just for football. In the weekends they are often used for other school activities. |
runi
said:
| maganda kahit festival lang at least may movement and football dito, pero pagkatapos ng festival anong mangyari?paglaki ng mga bata may patutungohan ba sila kagaya ng basketball? sana mag kakaroon tayo ng professional league kahit sa visayas lang muna cebu, bacolod, dumaguete, at iloilo, malaking bagay na ito alam ko sa visayas mga football lovers talaga ang mga tao dito kaso lang walang movement kasi busy tayo sa ibang bagay lalo na sa pulitika...sayang...pero posible pang may mangyaring maganda dito...tulungan lang talaga ang kulang, lalo na ang media, malaking bagay talaga sila sa pagcondition nang utak ng tao to recognize football, pasalamat nga ako sa MILO meron silang advertisement na soccer. sana yung mga rich and influential people can make wonders and hopefully they'll create a professional league na magbibigay pag-asa sa mga football lovers at young aspirants to become beckham, zidane, c. ronaldo, ronaldo, messi, at ronaldinho of the future dito sa bansa natin. |
MikeH
said:
| Ronaldo: Manfred did it without the CFA. I dont agree that organizing a longer league would be to take over the CFA. If CFA isnt interested, then clubs and teams should do something. They can organize a good league if theyre really interested and co operate. Yes its true im new to Cebu football, but ive been keeping track for some years now. But thats not the point, youre one of the powerhouses in Cebu football, and its great that you setup smaller tournaments. But how about a bigger league which the football community in Cebu will have the benefit of? If you cant for some reasons, why not try and influence the rest of the football community? Jack, yes DB organized a "league". My team played in that "league". But i wont call it a league. I call it a tournament. What we need in Cebu is a real league, a league that lasts for many months, not only a couple of weeks. Everyone says lets get on with the elections, lets wait for the elections, but i cant see anyone running for presidency. So what will happen? Who will represent Cebu in the regional? No preparations at all. Cebu wont qualify this year like previous years. Even if the CFA has no official president as of now, they still can do something about it. But theyre too busy saying theyre busy with the elections. |
ino
said:
| jack, i would like to commend you jack for your column about cebu football. i hope that we will continue to improve and develop cebu football for the love of the game. please keep me updated. To the past president, jonathan, thanks for your commitment to football. we hope to have more guys like you around. |
jackbiantan
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| Mike, Don Bosco has organized an 11 a side football tournament this year during their foundation day. They can organize a longer league like what Manfred did in Lapulapu. But that would be taking over from the job of the CFA. The CFA will have its re-organization meeting by the end of this month. I hope something good will comeout from this. God bless |
ronaldo
said:
| MikeH, the Don Bosco community - school administration and alumni - has not only been playing and participating in football but over the years has organized 11 a side tournaments. i understand that you are relatively new to the cebu football scene, but if you check with your teammates, they will tell you that they can't count the number of full-size tournaments that the DB community has organized over the years. that is our contribution to cebufootball and hopefully what our reputation is based on. we just don't play, we also find ways for others to play. yup you are right, cebu football is not don bosco football. don bosco has never made such a claim. but if we win several age group and DECS national crowns and have our football program receive recognition , the praises are not of our own making. it's from those who recognized the success of our program. the establishment of a true league is dependent on the cooperation of the various clubs and the CebuFA. not one single entity can make it happen. first thing first - lets get the elections out of the way, get a sincere and knowlegable president, and then lets talk about the league. |
MikeH
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| dino, i call it fun, not competition. Jack, i can see what you mean. But CFA has really not bothered about 11-aside competitions. Even the so called Aboitiz league is nothing. They cant even make a full season league. I wouldnt really blame the elections either, because CFA has never been interested in having a really good league, which is very possible in Cebu. I guess a festival is easier coz its once a year and only a weekend and then all the headaches will be gone in short time. Its good that DB have their focus on football, but what does that help when the CFA wont do anything to keep the talents evolving and developing their skills? That wont happen even if they played one festival per month. But since theyre so "superior" to other schools and clubs, and have the facilities, then why dont they organize a league? They certainly have the economy for it, so why dont they give it a try? Even Manfred did. If he can, then DB can. Im sure a lot of clubs, teams and players would love that! |
mvpfame
said:
| I thank Neil Monteclaros for letting me play for Don Bosco United and he is a genius for founding the club...I think I have a future with the club knowing that I used to be an MVP star and I always wanted to play for world cup and I never like my talent to be exploited by a private school or by university scholarships to promote themselves, well, it is nice to be back in the pitch again...Neil thank you....take heed to stars like me and this is not to brag or anything but we know the discipline and we know how to please the fans...why did they award me MVP in the first place??? That award made me a prisoner of fame...hehehe... |
dino
said:
| lol, i'm jealous haha. if only there were more thriving competitions in the ncr. |
jackbiantan
said:
| MikeH, Yes, Mike 11 aside tournaments are best for football development. But as of the moment, there is no CFA yet to organize these tournaments. That is why these Festivals have thrived. If I were you, why don't you organize an 11 a side tournament for summer in San Roque. Clubs in Cebu would love to join that tournament. There is nothing to do this summer. Make it a two month tournament for whatever age group divisions you want. Don Bosco is the most active football playing school in Cebu that is why it gets lots of mileage in the press. They have a very strong football program that makes the school a powerhouse in Cebu football. They are also very active in organzing football tournaments. I went to their campus last month when I was in vacation and I was very happy to see a school who prioritizes football in their Physical Education program. They have two 11 a side football field and an excellent a futsal court. They also have a number of PE teachers who are still currently active playing. In short they have the facilities and they have all the support of their superiors. Now name me a school who have this kind of program? If you say CIS or Springdale, Abellana or USC? Yes they also have their own football programs but these schools have at least only one or two football coaches. In DBTC they have Babot, Kid, Glen, and David. The school is even sending back to college Archival so that he could work in DBTC when he finishes in two years time. Thanks once again for the comments and the concern. God Bless. |
MikeH
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| Don Bosco here, Don Bosco there, Don Bosco everywhere. Football in Cebu is more than Don Bosco. Look at San Roque. Even if they dont have the power and finances of Don Bosco they still manage to do quite well. Look at the youth levels, San Roque might not win everything in the festival, but look at the line ups. A lot of the players live in San Roque but play for other teams. Its also nice to see football tournaments/festivals in Cebu, but 7-aside festivals are not the way to go if Cebu wants to keep up with the rest of the Philippines. The Cebu team who won the U14 or something may be good now, but what will happen in a few years if they only play festivals like Thirsty Cup? If football festivals in Cebu thrives, then there is something wrong. For me personally, a festival is only for fun. Give us footballers a good 11-aside league instead of the festivals. |
stephen cyril c. suico
said:
| i agree on what red devil said, it is very active here in cebu, but the common problem here is poverty, im one of the players in san roque fc(SRFC), and most of our members are poor, but still, in the face of their problems, smiles are always their to brighten up their day with a game of football every after classes. |
ronaldo
said:
| kirby, everytime we (iry,neil jimboi and the others included) talk about CebuFA, we usually end up agreeing that what we need is a leader with the financial and political connections. if the president and the rest of the board has these, and willing to use these connections to help fund tournaments and development programs, then all that needs to be done is to get a secretary-general (acting as a corporate officer) to oversee the day-to-day activities of the FA. under this concept, the president and the board will be looked at as a "money-man holding the money-bag". a lesser human being may feel used and abused when given this tag but that's how things get done. we have a lot of competent tournament organizers, but these guys doesn't have their own "wealth" to splurge on. we have potential sponsors who has the money to spare but doesn't have a marketing proposal or project to spend on. the CebuFA president and his board should be the bridge between the two - the sponsors and the football people. as for the elections, i hope the "one club/school one vote/representation" that we agree on will be implemented. the last elections was a comedy - with any tom, dick or harry capable of buying voting rights. yes, it was legal - but we all knew it was the wrong way to go. that's why we didn't buy voting rights as individuals back then. we simply used our vote as a consience vote. i hope the other clubs and schools will feel the same way. we don't need several personalities representing one group. by having clubs/schools as members, then we become a community of programs rather than personalities. |
jackbiantan
said:
| Kirby, I talked to Neil and asked him if he is interested. He said no. He said that he does not have the time. According him he does not own his time. He added that he is just an employer of Bright Academy. |
kirby ledesma
said:
| i read that Dakay, has been the choice for the post, even Neil and Iry who are from DB said he is fit. But is he really? My take is i would love to see Neil Montesclaros, be the CFA leader. He is not a succecssfull business man but he is a successfull footballer and a very, very successfull football organizer. Football is alive in Cebu because Bosconians are promoting it thru lots and lots of leagues big or small. And one more thing he does not take money to organize Thirsty. I know this because i work with Neil in the Thirty Festival along with other bosconians who helped in the festival without pay all for the love of football. take care jack. |
Reddevil
said:
| Its great that Football is alive and well in Cebu. I hope they churn out more players thru these competitions. Lets hope the Cebu FA gets their programs going in the coming year. They really need to get those elections out of the way. |
