This is the lady of Cebu football (the blog not the scene) dont you wish she’d put on spikes and prance around the field?

Check her blog at http://princess-chikay.blogs.friendster.com/princess_chikay/

Peace.

CEBUANO footballer Oliver Colina and two other former Cebu-based players are a step closer to their dream of making it to Philippine team for a Southeast Asian Games (Seag).

The 23-year-old Colina was tapped b y national coach Aries Caslib for the RP team to a pre-Seag tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, which started yesterday until Sept 10. Colina’s name appeared in the line-up for the Bangkok tournament released yesterday.

“This is a dream come true for me, I’ve been waiting for this. This came as a surprise,” Colina told Sun.Star Cebu after he received the call a few days before he turned 23 last May 7.

Colina played for the University of San Jose-Recoletos and was a regular in the Exas Football Club.

“He’s a good midfielder who can make a dangerous forward pass and he can also take that long shot,” Caslib said of Colina.

Former Cebu-based players Johneil Bapor and Arnie Pasinabo are also in the national team.

Bapor replaced another Cebu player, Michael Casas, as goalkeeper, while Pasinabo, Casas’ ex-teammate at Carmen National School, finally gets a chance to shine for the senior team.

Last summer, Caslib dropped by Bacolod to talk to Pasinabo’s coach and parents, wooing the player to join the national training pool. Caslib handled Casas, Pasinabo and four other Carmen boys in the Under-17 team a few years ago.

In Thailand, the Philippines is in Group A along with former Southeast Asian powerhouse Myanmar, Malaysia and newcomer Timor Leste. Host Thailand is in Group B with Singapore, Laos and Cambodia, while Vietnam, Brunei and Indonesia withdrew a few days before the start of the event.

The Philippines was playing Myanmar at press time and will next face Malaysia tomorrow and Timor Leste on Saturday.

In the Tiger Cup, Myanmar scored a last-minute goal for a 1-0 win over RP, which also lost to Malaysia, 3-1. The Philippines clinched its first win in the tournament with a 2-1 escape over Timor Leste.

After Bangkok, the training pool will head for China for a month-long training before the Seag.

Others who made it to the team are Ian Araneta, Emilio Caligdong, Jesan Candolesa, Arnold Cariño, Roy Clores, Philip Greatwich, Bervic Italia, Peter Jaugan, Jeffrey Liman, Jay-Archie Marcaida, Ruffy Narvaez, Jose Ombos, Michael Fuertes, Dexter Versario, Donald Somoza and Gerald and Jerome Orcullo.

HOPING to upgrade the level of coaching in Cebu and promote camaraderie among its ranks, a football coaches association of Cebu has been organized - the first of its kind the country.

Though they are still to come up with a name and bylaws for their registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the 37-member group has elected its set of officers three weeks ago.

Don Bosco Technological Center athletic director Bro. Marie Aberasturi was named president together with former national team member and noted youth coach Mario Ceniza as vice president.

“Our main objective is the development of coaches in Cebu since that is really what we lack despite the success of football here,” Ceniza told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.

Other elected officers are Bright Academy’s Eleazar Toledo as secretary general, University of Cebu’s Glen Ramos as auditor and Levi Bajarias as treasurer.

Elected to the board of directors were University of the Visayas’ Eddie Buot, University of San Jose-Recoletos’ Joselito Bono, UV and Abellana National School coach Francis Ramirez and University of San Carlos’ Dexter Arrojado.

“We decided to organize this because this is what (national coach) Aries Caslib wanted since the solidarity meeting three years ago, and so we can also push for seminars for the coaches here. All of these were brought up during the Center for Football Excellence training last June,” said Ceniza, the designated Cebu CFE coach.

Unlike other football associations around the country, the Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) has only four Asian Football Confederation (AFC) license C coaches and no license B holders. Ceniza, Ramos, Arrojado and Ray Calo are the only license C holders.

Licenses are important since coaches are required to have them when attending seminars. Last year, Ceniza missed a three-week seminar in Germany because participants were required to be license B holders.

“Our first activity is to hold an NCCC (National Coaching Certificate Course) here. There was supposed to be one but Aries got busy. We are planning to have the license C holders conduct some sort of a warm up seminar before the NCCC,” Ceniza said.

TWO weeks before the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Incorporated football season is set to start, organizers are caught in an imbroglio after the eligibility of two University of the Visayas players were questioned.

Ricky Flores’ and Venjor Gomera’s eligibility for the 2005 season set to start on Sept 4 were questioned by their former University of Cebu coach Glen Ramos.

The two were former members of the Abellana National School team in 2004 under coach Francis Ramirez, who also serves as UV assistant coach, before attending the University of Cebu after graduation.

They played for UC in the Cesafi last year and then transferred to the University of the Visayas in the second semester and their eligibility to play was questioned by UC head coach Glen Ramos.

In Cesafi regulations, a transferee must have a one-year residency before he is eligible to play for his new school, a ruling which discourages player piracy.

However, the ruling is not as clear on the two as theirs is a unique case. According to UV head coach Eddie Buot their transcript of records do not show that they spent one semester at the University of Cebu.

“Pag graduate high school gi enroll sa UC wa mo eskwela, gipaduwa sa Cesafi nga wa muskwela,” Buot said in an interview last Friday at the Cebu City Sports Center. “During the second semester they transferred at UV and they do not have records from UC,”

“If they were enrolled at UC, how come it doesn’t show in their records,” Buot continued, “My other players who came from UC have records that they studied at UC,”

The same point is also raised by UC athletics director Bernard Ricablanca, “Let me clarify we are not holding back the two boys, but we just want to know why their transcript do not show that they came from UC when we have their records here. What credentials did they present to UV?”

Ricablanca clarified that whether a student attended his classes or not, as long as they were enrolled, they will have records.

Buot said that he wants the status of the two players clarified by the technical committee before the season starts on Sept 3 and is willing to present the two. “Its also better that they ask the players themselves to clear this matter,”

Ricablanca also agrees, “That’s better so we can ask them themselves how they are able to enroll or whether anybody helped them,”

Ricablanca, Buot and the other parties are set to meet with Cesafi president Dodong Gullas to settle the matter.

I have a confession to make.

I was a football fanatic.

Once, in The Days Without Cable, my friends and I rented a tape between Argentina and West Germany – the 1990 World Cup Finals.

We viewed it twice in succession, and saw how Rudy Voeller got tripped in the penalty area, and how Maradona, pleaded with the ref to reconsider the penalty call.

Maradona had his hands on his back, his right, clasped on the wrist of his left. We debated on that.

He’s not supposed to wear that wristband that’s why he’s hiding it, a friend said. I said, heck, he just wanted to be the good guy, hands behind the back, begging the ref.

After taking a one goal lead, I remember, the Argentine keeper (no 12) dived in the right direction, but didn’t catch the shot (by Voeller I think), the West Germans decided on delaying tactics, passing the ball to the keeper and so on.

A year after that, Fifa disallowed the backpass.

I remember, that year, of wearing No 3, Rudy’s Jersey (coincidentally my girl friend then had her birthday on April 3) I made up this list of all famous players jersey, from 1 to 21.

It’s a list long forgotten, I mean, who remembers Juninho wearing number 7?

Folks stay up for the NBA play-offs, heck, I once stayed up so late just so I can watch the Ajax – Ac Milan Eufa finals. Diego Simone was one of my favorite players then, but there was this 17-year-old late Ajax substitute, who scored the winning goal in the 86th minute – a kid named Patrick Kluivert.

Getting here in Cebu for college, in the day’s Without the TV, football took the backseat. Being new in a place where everything had a price, a probinsyano like me, tried everything - price and all.

But I do remember, one fateful night in July, I watched, with disbelief, Zinedine Zidane’s two headers off a corner that brought mighty Brazil to its knees – and cost me a P500 wager.

Fast-forward four years, I was losing my voice, screaming “BRA-ZIL!” Trapped in a crowded area, where all the football fanatics seemed to have converged to catch the only live World Cup final shown in Cebu.

One side was screaming Deutschland! While we were screaming Brazil! After Brazil took a one-goal lead the signal broke and the screen went blank – the obscenities thrown and uttered – would have put a Quentin Tarantino movie to shame.

I more than made up for the P500 I lost.

I have a confession to make. I was a football fanatic. I am a football fanatic. Now that I have a job writing about football, I’m like the politician who got handed the key to the National Bank, or heck, I’m J Lo who just got handed the secrets of marriage success.

I have a confession to make.

I’m a football fanatic.

Brazil against England in the WC 2006 final, anyone?

CEBU’s Center for Football Excellence (CFE) formally opens shop tomorrow with the trials for the promising youngsters at the University of San Carlos SVD field.

The CFE, one of three in the country and headed by noted Cebuano youth coach and former national team mainstay Mario Ceniza, will train an elite group of kids born 1992-93, in a program designed to prepare them for the senior national team pool in the future.

“I have already informed the schools of the trials this Saturday, and we had to squeeze it in because we have a very tight schedule,” Ceniza said.

After the trials, the boys will be busy with the Milo Little Olympics next week and the Aboitiz Cup. Other coming tournaments are the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) high school competition and the Cebu City Olympics.

“I hope we will have 40 to 50 participants in the tryouts, so from them we can select the top 20 to 25 players,” Ceniza said.

The trials, set at 8-9 a.m., will have the boys doing drills and playing seven-a-side pick-up games to gauge their skill levels.

The list of CFE qualifiers will be submitted to the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) as training starts in the next three weeks.

A Visayas camp is also scheduled later this year, pitting players from the Cebu CFE and Dumaguete CFE, and another batch will be selected from the group to represent the region in the National Training Camp (NTC) early next year.

The participants of the NTC will then represent the country in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Youth Festival, which the Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) is bidding to host in June of next year.

ALONE: A Sacred Heart School player tries to get the ball from Cebu International School’s Mara Reina, while Holly Dychangco and Stephanie Sharpe watches. CIS won 1-0 to take the Girls 17 under title in the San Roque Football fiesta. Sunstar photo by Ruel Rosillo

THE Cebu International School made a killing in the Under-17 division of the San Roque Football Festival over the weekend at the San Roque Parish.

The CIC Girls squad, the same team that finished runner-up in the International Schools Athletic Conference last summer at Brent School in Manila, went undefeated in the elimination round and then narrowly defeated upstart Sacred Heart School for Girls, 1-0, behind Presley Cunningham’s goal to win the title.

Others who suited up for CIS in the two-day fiesta were Mara Reina, defender Holly “The Tank” Dychangco, keeper Danica Ronquillo, Danica Lotzoff, Stephani Sharpe and Gabi Mercado.

On the other hand, CIS’ Boys squad led by Michael Sharpe, Paolo Cases and keeper Miguel Red also went undefeated in the elimination round and got past the University of Southern Philippines in the finals to take home the crown.

It was the first tournament in the country for Sharpe and Cases after representing the Philippines in a Manchester United-sponsored tournament in Thailand last May.

In the Men’s Open, Crazy Horse, which imported players from Bacolod City, defeated the University of San Carlos, 1-0, in extra time to take home the crown. The Don Bosco Alumni FC defeated Queen City United A via shootout to win the 37-Above title.

The Women’s Open was cancelled as Cebu’s top lady booters were in Davao for the Philippine Football Federation National Women’s Championship, where they finished runner-up to Davao City.

Seventy-seven teams joined the fiesta geared to revive football in San Roque, one of the metro’s football hotbeds in the late 80s.

SPRINT: Cebu International School’s Holly “The Tank” Dychangco tries to outrun a Sacred Heart School for Girls player in thier 1-0 win in the Girls U17 division of the San Roque Football Festival last weekend. Sunstar Photo Ruel Rusillo

THE M. Lhuillier-Canduman Elementary School grassroots program is starting to pay off as the school copped its first title in the Under-8 division of the San Roque Football Festival at the San Roque Parish yesterday.

The team went undefeated in the eliminations and did not concede a single goal for a 4-0-1 win-loss-draw record before beating Pomery, 1-0, in the semifinals to arrange a finals showdown with Paref-Springdale.

Canduman sealed its title after Joseph Jims Felicilda and John Dexter Espiritu scored a goal each in their 2-1 win over Springdale, which had Aldrich Pelenio score its lone goal.

Mario Ceniza heads the M. Lhuillier-Canduman project, which aims to duplicate its highly successful Carmen National School program that Graeme Mackinnon and Ceniza developed from raw talents to a legit national contender.

“We have been training since summer, and now it has paid off,” Ceniza said.

In the highly competitive boys U-14 division, Bright Academy scored a 1-0 win over Hiroshi FC in the final.

The cluster saw the Red Ribbon U-14 champion Springdale booted out in the eliminations and the top four teams separated only by three points.

In the semifinals, Bright squeaked past Don Bosco Boys Home, 1-0, and Hiroshi blanked the Cebu International School, 2-0.

“I’m very happy today because we won our first title,” said Bright coach and tournament organizer Eleazar Toledo.

Hiroshi made up for its loss after taking the U-12 title with a close 1-0 win over CIS. Hiroshi went undefeated in the eliminations and also did not concede a single goal.

In the U-10 division, Springdale went through penalty shootout to take the title over Hiroshi, 2-0, with Iggy Maximo and Andone Ugarte converting their spot kicks to seal their win.

Results in the Girls U-17, Boys U-17, Men’s Open and the 37-Above clusters were still unavailable at presstime yesterday.

IT WASN’T meant to be.

In its first Philippine Football Federation National Women’s Championship finals, Queen City United fell short and got on the wrong end of a 5-0 blowout by defending champion and host Davao City yesterday at the Tiongko field.

“They (Davao) are very good and very tough on defense,” said former University of San Carlos player Dione, who was with QCU, the Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) representatives.

Former national team member Leonor Satorre scored once in the first half, and Davao added another goal for a 2-0 lead at the turn.

Davao made it 3-0 in the second half before Satorre completed her hat trick, while Crystal Dureza scored last as Davao cruised to its fifth straight win in the tournament, sealing its second straight national title.

In all their five wins, Davao City did not concede a single goal and racked up whooping routs against South Cotabato (8-0) and Zamboanga (11-0) in the elimination round.

“I think their goal keeper only got to touch the ball once during the whole game while Iris Meca, (QCU keeper) was scrambling for saves throughout the match,” Dione said.

Still, it was a positive result for Cebu, which finished runner-up for the first time in the annual competition. It was a vast improvement from last year, when Cebu failed to reach the semifinals in Marikina, while their previous best finish was third during the inaugural National Women’s Championship in 2001, also in Davao City.

Davao also swept the individual awards with Satorre taking the Best Striker and MVP plums, Ester Vilela winning the Best Midfielder Award and Keith Shelly Canton clinching the Best Defender trophy. Lorena Mongao, the Davao keeper who barely dropped a sweat for the whole tournament, got the Best Goalie honors.

Queen City United booked the first finals seat in the Philippine Football Federation National Women’s Championship with a 2-1 comeback win over Cagayan at the Tiongko Field in Davao City.

They will play the winner of the Davao City - Iloilo game with Davao leading 3-0 as of the moment.

Cagayan got the lead five minutes into the second half before Rhodora Toledo scored in the 76th minute to level the match and Marlou Solon came up with the game winner two minutes from time with a shot inside the penalty box