ITS another season and another chance to renew the rivalry between youth powers Paref Springdale and Don Bosco Technological Center (DBTC) as the Aboitiz Cup kicks off with the Boys 12 and 15 tournament on Oct. 8-9 at the Cebu International School (CIS).

DBTC defeated Springdale 3-0 to win the 10th Milo Olympics elementary football crown before Paref returned the favor as they booted out the Bosconians in the semis en route to winning the Aboitiz Youth Festival last Sept. 18.

“Murag grudge rematch na ni,” Springdale coach Mario Ceniza quipped.

Rikko Cedric de Guzman will lead the charge for the Bosconians as they seek to add another crown. De Guzman was named the Most Outstanding Athlete for football in the Milo Olympics.

“We will be fielding the same team (in the Milo) and they have been practicing regularly under coach Joselito Bono,” DBTC athletic director Bro Mari Aberasturi said.

However the two schools won’t have a clear road to the finals as the other teams in the tourney are capable of springing a surprise.

The other entries are Bright Academy, CIS, Cebu Inmaculda Concepcion - Mandaue (CICM), Don Bosco Boys Home (DBBH), Hiroshi FC, San Roque FC (SRFC), City Central School (CCS), University of San Carlos North Campus (USC-N), Patid Bola Football Academy (Pabol FA) and the SOS Children’s Village.

Bright Academy won the division in the San Roque Football Fiesta while Hiroshi, DBBH and CIS are always a threat to any tournament.

The tournament also serves as a practicum for the participants of the Referee Certification Course to be conducted by Philippine Football Federation referee’s committee chair Cyril Dofitas.

“They will be asked to officiate then Cyril will evaluate them” said Cebu Football Association president Jonathan Maximo.

After the Boys’ 12 tourney, the Boys’ 15 tournament starts still at CIS.

Those who have confirmed their participation are Blessed John 23rd Seminary, BA, CIS, CICM, DBBH, DBTC, FC Inter Cebu, Hiroshi, Springdale, SRFC and Abellana National School, Don Bosco Missionary Seminary and University of Southern Philippines Foundation.

Competition will be tougher in the division with majority of the teams considered as serious contenders.

According to Aberasturi half of their team will be from the squad which lost to CIS in the U17 finals while Ceniza said their team will made up of the 2002 Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association champion.

“I’ve also heard that the CIS team (which won the Aboitiz U17 crown) are all eligible in the 15,” Aberasturi said.

MULBACHS FC defied the odds as it fished out a third-place finish in the 21st Iligan Fiesta Football Festival at the Global Steel Football Field in Iligan City last Sept. 24-25.

Arriving just after noon on the first day, the team had to forego lunch to catch up with the schedule and despite hunger pangs managed to stay undefeated in four matches.

Madille Salina’s strike in the fourth had Mulbachs 1-0 over Marawi, while Vasti Morong scored the lone goal in another 1-0 win over Iligan.

Mulbachs ran out of gas in the third game to settle for a 0-0 draw, and Angelica Cabias’ last-minute equalizer had it 1-1 against Cagayan de Oro as it clinched a semifinal spot with eight points.

Mulbachs’ luck, however, ran out in the semis as it lost before regaining composure and outlasted another Cagayan team in a tough shootout in the battle for third, with first-time keeper Salinas coming up with the big plays.

Team captain Angelica Cabias said she was satisfied with her team’s performance, considering that engine trouble delayed their boat trip to Cagayan for hours leading to their late arrival on opening day.

They only had seven players with no coach and impressed Iligan FA president Lloyd Lapinig that they earned another invite for another tournament in December.

Other members of the team are Jore Carl Igot, Gay Walker, Ma. Loraine Allero, and Nyce Jonayon.

MULBACHS FC defied the odds as it fished out a third-place finish in the 21st Iligan Fiesta Football Festival at the Global Steel Football Field in Iligan City last Sept. 24-25.

Arriving just after noon on the first day, the team had to forego lunch to catch up with the schedule and despite hunger pangs managed to stay undefeated in four matches.

Madille Salina’s strike in the fourth had Mulbachs 1-0 over Marawi, while Vasti Morong scored the lone goal in another 1-0 win over Iligan.

Mulbachs ran out of gas in the third game to settle for a 0-0 draw, and Angelica Cabias’ last-minute equalizer had it 1-1 against Cagayan de Oro as it clinched a semifinal spot with eight points.

Mulbachs’ luck, however, ran out in the semis as it lost before regaining composure and outlasted another Cagayan team in a tough shootout in the battle for third, with first-time keeper Salinas coming up with the big plays.

Team captain Angelica Cabias said she was satisfied with her team’s performance, considering that engine trouble delayed their boat trip to Cagayan for hours leading to their late arrival on opening day.

They only had seven players with no coach and impressed Iligan FA president Lloyd Lapinig that they earned another invite for another tournament in December.

Other members of the team are Jore Carl Igot, Gay Walker, Ma. Loraine Allero, and Nyce Jonayon.

Another generation of footballers will get to pick up the game with the holding of the Thirsty Players 6 Cup on Nov.Judging from the P6 finals of the Aboitiz Youth Festival at USC-TC, it will be a slambang affair with the action off the field just as exciting as the action on.

BOB Marley in action: Pass the dutchie from the left hand side, I say pass the dutchie from the left hand side. No 13. “Not the balls, please not the balls”

DANCESPORT: Imagine a gown on the USC player and a tuxedo on Number 3, and you have Cha-cha.

Photos by Allan Cuizon

UV striker Junard Aguilar falls after a hard tackle by a UC defender in their 3-1 win yesterday at SHS-J. Sunstar photo by Allan Cuizon

IT SEEMS the mantra of invincibility of the University of San Jose-Recoletos has been lifted.

The four-time Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) football champion dropped its second straight match, 1-2, to the surging University of Southern Philippines Foundation yesterday at the Sacred Heart School Jesuit-field in the Ayala Business Park.

On the other hand, the undefeated UV Grenbooters defeated the University of Cebu Webmasters, 3-1, for their fourth straight win.

It was only the second loss for the USJ-R Jaguars since the Cesafi started. Last week, they lost to UV, 0-2.

“The last time USJ-R lost was in 2000, in a penalty shootout against USC (University of San Carlos),” said USPF assistant coach and former USJ-R keeper Jesus Singson Jr.

Since then, USJ-R has not dropped a match and has ruled collegiate football in dominating fashion as it racked up four straight Cesafi crowns.

Things looked to be headed for another USJ-R win yesterday after Jade Paghubasan struck in the 34th minute for a 1-0 lead at the half, but USPF’s Nobushiro Kawashita ran circles around the defense in the 55th to level the count.

“It was an impressive goal; he slipped past three defenders and flicked it past the keeper,” said referee Randy Estremos.

Edward Adlawan scored the game winner in the 64th as USPF moved up to second in the standings with seven points on two wins and a draw against the University of Cebu.

Meanwhile, UV’s Junard Aguilar added another to his season total of eight goals after converting the penalty in the 16th, while Freddie Rica made it 2-0 in the 22nd.

George Hangalay’s perfectly struck free kick in the 80th allowed UC to narrow the lead to 2-1 but Kurt Acre ended their jubilation with a strike in the 85th to seal UV’s win.

Things got rough in the dying minutes with Aguilar earning a yellow while Daryl Tan sits out UC’s next match after receiving a red card.

In its final match on Sunday, UV will take on cellar-dweller CIT, which lost to USC, 6-0, yesterday.

JUST as their hardcourt brothers suffered their first defeat in five years, the University of the Visayas Greenbooters are poised for a perfect elimination round as they face the University of Cebu today at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit field in the Ayala Business Park.

The UC Webmasters ended UV’s 57-game win streak with a 88-76 win at the Lancers’ homecourt last Thursday. Today, the UV Greenbooters, cruising on a three-game win streak, will have the chance to get even with the Webmasters as they go for win No.4 before trying for a perfect season against winless Cebu Institute of Technology in their final assignment next week.

The Greenbooters’ morale is currently at an all-time high as they are fresh off dealing the defending champion University of San-Jose Recoletos its first loss in years with a 2-0 win last Sunday.

Top-striker Junard Aguilar scored both goals, tallying eight goals already in UV’s first three wins, and is expected to play with the same intensity today.

Just like the UV Greenlancers in basketball, the USJ-R Jaguars are the kings of Cesafi football having won all four Cesafi crowns so far – something the UV Greenbooters want to end this year.

“The only tough team left is USJ-R if we meet again,” UV assistant coach Francis Ramirez said.

Ramirez’s wards earlier logged a 4-1 win over the University of San Carlos and an 11-2 bashing of the University of Southern Philippines.

UV’s final assignment is against cellar-dweller Cebu Institute of Technology, which got on the wrong end of a 10-0 rout by USJ-R in the league’s opening match.

MARIO Ceniza is inviting all footballers born in 1992 and 1993 to join the second trials for the Center For Football Excellence (CFE) at 2 pm today at the San Roque Parish Football Field.

“The kids should bring their birth certificates or in the case for those who have dual citizenship, their passport,” Ceniza told Sunstar.

The kids will undergo one-on-one drills and passing exercises and will be pitied against each other in small-sided games to gauge their skills.

“After this we will conduct a third phase and from there we will select 22 to 25 players who will join the CFE,” Ceniza said.

After the selection of the CFE pool, Ceniza will be conducting the regular training of the kids and will pass periodic reports to the Philippine Football Federation.

Ceniza, whose former wards in Carmen National School, Michael Casas and Arnie Pasenabo is now with the national team, has been tasked by PFF to run the Cebu CFE. The other CFEs are in Dumaguete City and Dipolog.

The PFF is also planning to hold a National Camp for all the CFEs early next year and will select from the participants the team that will represent the country in the Asian Football Confederation in June next year. The Cebu Football Association is also looking to host that festival.

The ambitious 10-year-program is geared to producing the first gold in the Southeast Asian Games for the Philippines in 2015.

AFTER the two-day football fiesta at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center, the ninth Aboitiz football season goes full blast with a series of tournaments for the different age groups next month.

The city’s football scene is expected to be even busier with the upcoming Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) referees’ seminar on Oct. 7-9.

“We will first launch the Boys 15 tournament in the first weekend of October and then the Girls 15,” CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said.

After the two tournaments, the Boys 12 follows, while the Aboitiz Men’s League will start after the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) football tournament ends on Oct. 23.

“The Boys 12 will be in preparation for the Cebu City Olympics in November,” Maximo said.

Meanwhile, the B15 tournament is in preparation for the Philippine Football Federation Under 17 Championships in May next year, which CebuFA is bidding to host.

“We are pretty strong in that age group and we are also thinking of bidding for the Girls U-17 because we are also good in that,” Maximo said.

In the Aboitiz Youth Festival, the Cebu International School swept both Boys and Girls 17 titles, beating Don Bosco Technological College and Silliman University, respectively. It was the second straight titles for both CIS

“I think there are a lot of players from that CIS team in the 15 age group,” Maximo said.

There are also the upcoming Red Ribbon Youth Tournament and the Thirsty Players 6.

On the other hand, the referees’ seminar will be limited to only 25 participants.

“We will screen the applicants to 25 because that’s the ideal class size. It will be conducted by PFF referees committee chairman Cyril Dofitas,” Maximo said.

There was also a plan to hold a coaching seminar, but it didn’t push through as national coach Aries Caslib is busy preparing the RP team for the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Bacolod City on Nov. 20 to Dec.

THE University of San Jose-Recoletos’ bid for a fifth straight Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. football crown suffered a temporary snag after a 0-2 loss to the University of the Visayas last Sunday at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit field.

It was UV’s third straight win in the Cesafi season, putting it comfortably on top with a 3-0 mark.

Speedy striker Junard Aguilar scored both goals for the resurgent Greenbooters as they handed the Jaguars their first defeat in years.

Since the Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA) was re-christened as the Cesafi, USJ-R has won all football crowns and also went undefeated last year to win its four straight crown.

“I think since the Cesafi started, it’s USJ-R’s first loss,” UV assistant coach Francis Ramirez said.

However, USJ-R coach Joselito Bono says otherwise, “Dili oy. napildi pud mi sa una, di lang ko kahinumdum (No, we were also beaten before, I just don’t remember who).”

USJ-R will close its 2005 season with a match against University of Southern Philippines and the University of Cebu in the next two weeks.

“We’ll just give it our best because there are a lot of solid teams out there,” Bono said.

The win now puts UV as the favorites to win it all this year, and with Aguilar scoring goals almost wantonly, defenders may have to work harder to stop the Carmen National School alum.

In their first win against the University of San Carlos, Aguilar scored a hat trick for a 4-1 win and followed it up with another hat trick with an 11-2 whipping of the University of Southern Philippines.