THE Cebu Football Association is planning to send a delegation to support the RP Men’s football squad also known as the Askals in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Bacolod this Nov. 20 to Dec 5.

“We have coordinated the football calendar so there will be no football activities here during the Southeast Asian Games and the players and coaches can watch the games,” CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said.

Maximo said that there have been initial talks between the CebuFA and the Philippine Football Federation to send a busload of supporters from Cebu.

National team coach Aries Caslib has appealed for active and loud fan participation in the Seag, calling them the “12th member of the team.”

“I think it’s better if we organize it here so we will be coordinated,” Maximo said. “We can arrange for the bus or for rooms and tickets in Bacolod.”

In another development, the CebuFA will introduce the Girls Under-17 age group in this year’s 10th Aboitiz Cup, which will also hold a one-day festival for the Girls 12-U cluster.

“There are not that many girls in the 12-U but the Girls 17-U will be a full 11-a-side tournament,” Maximo said. “This will give a chance for the high school teams to compete with each other.”

The 10th Aboitiz Cup will be tentatively played at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit field and the newly improved San Roque Parish field while the Cebu City Sports Center field is being renovated.

The Men’s Open will still be staged at the University of San Carlos - Technological Center later this year.

Maximo was set to meet with the coaches last night to plot the schedules for the different age groups.

Sona too shocked (and disgusted according to her) to be in photo withe me

The football beat reporters from left, ever lovely and always late Marian of Cebu Daily News, and the statuesque but quite a gourmet Sona of the Freeman. Never mind the third guy, he can’t help being himself

Talks are ripe that the University of San Carlos will build a world class field at the USC-Technological Center, with a rubber oval, a grandstand plus lights.

I’ve been trying to confirm this with Father Vic, but they are currently out of town for a Board meeting.

Let us hope this is true.

THE Cebu Center for Football Excellence got a huge boost after Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) chief Jonathan Guardo promised to back the undertaking designed to save Philippine football.

“No problem, we will support it,” Guardo said. “We will appraise it, maybe after I receive their proposal.”

The Cebu CFE, one of 15 CFEs nationwide, will be set up later this month with noted youth coach Mario Ceniza in charge.

Ceniza, along with other coaches attended a seminar in Bago City last month under national coach Aries Caslib and Vince Santos of the Leads Sports Institute.

The center aims to train a select group of 13-year-olds, who in turn will be part of the national team 10 years from now.

“This is a really good concept and it’s the only way we can save football,” Ceniza said. “The center can also represent Cebu City.”

Ceniza is planning a tryout later this month at the San Roque Parish field since they are offered use of the facility for free.

Guardo also agrees as he plans to invite Ceniza and the Cebu Football Association to his office in the future.

“Cebu has produced a lot of football talents, I think we are one of the top five cities in football,” he said. “Our schools are very active, the private sector like the Aboitiz is very active,” said Guardo.

“In fact I have told (Jonathan) Maximo (CebuFA president) that they have to form a team next year for the International Children’s Games in Bangkok,” he said.

If plans push through, the Cebu CFE can also represent the City in the ICG as the games will be for kids 15 years old and under, the same bracket the players in the CFE will be next year.

“I am still waiting for the final confirmation from the Philippine Football Federation,” Ceniza said. “Though they have assured me that I will head the CFE, it’s better if we have papers to show. After I get those, we will meet with Chairman Guardo.”

Ceniza added he would first introduce the CFE to the CebuFA before presenting it to Guardo.

CEBU football is set to hit a milestone next year if the planned hosting of the Asian Football Confederation Youth Festival pushes through in June.

According to Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) president Jonathan Maximo, AFC wants the Philippines to host the AFC Youth Festival, which staged in Cambodia early this year participated by Malaysia, Indosia, Maldives and other Asian countries.

“Vince Santos wants us to host the AFC,” Maximo said, “Because its too congested in Metro Manila, and Cebu is also the better because it’s nearer to Mindanao and the Visayas,” he said.

Vince Santos, of the Leads Sports Institute in Manila was one of those contacted by the AFC regarding the hosting rights. Last February, a team from Leads including Cebuano Kevin Tecson competed in Cambodia.

The AFC Youth Camp is also a good small step in hosting international football meets for Cebu City.

“Its not that big a tournament because it’s for the under 14,” Maximo said.

Maximo will be finalizing an offer sheet for the event in the next few days and he will also have it endorsed by Cebu City Sports Commission chairman Jonathan Guardo since the help of the LGU is needed.

“The offer sheet will focus on the infrastructure, the stadium, because we already have the hotels to accommodate them,” he said.

The hosting is also timely because the Cebu City Sports Center, the only football stadium in the city, will undergo a massive renovation and replanting of its grass.

“I hope to include this in their schedule so that after the field is replanted, the field will still be in good condition,” Maximo said.

On the other hand, Guardo also promised to endorse the hosting.

“It’s a good move (hosting), I will endorse that,” he said, “We will discuss this first with the board and hopefully approve this and we can find out how we could help,”

The hosting of the AFC Youth Festival is another achievement for the city after it hosts five events in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games later this year

After reading Sunstar Cebu at home late last night, with a beer in hand, this is the headline in page 10 of our paper:

City to buy P2M lot
for basketball court

And then there’s a teaser below it that states “councilor says mayor promised this to residents even before polls”

Holy crap of all crap. How many freakin basketball courts do we have already? A thousand? For two million pesos, heck, one can build a decent field already!

hehehehe. No football news, no football photos, just me.
Who was it who said that we are in the payroll of the Cebu Football Association? Frankly dear father or brother (Im not familiar with religious ranks), the CebuFA can’t afford us.

THE Netherlands has the Orangemen, France is Les Bleus, and Italy has the Azures. Philippine football fans want to call their national team Askals.

The menacing street dog has just been elevated to national icon status after a few fans threw around an idea on what to call the national team in an Internet forum dedicated to Philippine football.

Names like Tamaraws and Eagles came up first before the fans agreed on Askal, short for asong kalye or street dog.

The idea started after national coach Aries Caslib appealed for more fan participation in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (Seag), where the country will try to win its first medal in football.

Caslib appealed for vocal support after seeing how the other countries supported their teams in last year’s Tiger Cup.

One fan has come up with an Askal logo, and plans to have it reproduced on shirts and flags are being discussed by regular posters Graeme Mackinnon, Paul Weiler and others.

Even coach Caslib is on with the idea: “I want to know if the design for the Askal is final because we might help in producing the shirts,” he told Sun.Star Cebu in an earlier interview.

As to whether the national team will be as menacing as the street dog is left to be seen as they are still to test their readiness in a pre-Seag tournament in Vietnam before leaving for a month-long training in China.