THE MANDAUE secondary football team aims to once again represent Central Visayas in the Palarong Pambansa as it competes in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVIRAA) meet in Tagbilaran City, Bohol starting this weekend.
Same as the past six years now, the Mandaue team will be manned by booters from the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC), according to the school’s athletic director Rico Navarro.
The team, which left for Bohol early today, is composed of John Francis Zambrano, Ethan Joshua Lim, Samuel Maurice Anton Sistoso, Sean Kyle Niño Wayne Go, Gerald Abao, John Vincent Eduave, Mushashi Anthony Ayabe, Earon Golosino, Julian Matheu Cabatingan, Paolo Montesclaros, Nathan Bajarias, Pomeroy John Veloso, Jacob Alexander Braun, Leo Gabriel Maquiling, Roy Barro, Kian Partosa, Miguel Galang, and Christian Lumapas.
The team immediately plunges into action this afternoon.
Coach Oliver “Bingbing” Colina said the squad is ready for action since it has been training since January, playing tune-up games against the vaunted Leylam FC. Colina is also the coach of Leylam FC.
“So far during our camp, [the players] already changed their attitude and their commitment. Hopefully, they will be able to fight,” said Colina, who will be handling a team for the CVIRAA for the first time.
“We need to stick to our plan, our system and how we play our concept.”
The Mandaue team has been bracketed alongside another football powerhouse in Bayawan and host Tagbilaran. Bayawan is one of the teams Colina is looking out for aside from Cebu City, Cebu Province and Negros Oriental.
The Mandaue team is no pushover as it has made it to the CVIRAA secondary football finals in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017.
It won the secondary football title in 2013 and 2015 and went on to represent Central Visayas in the Palarong Pambansa. Both times, the team was beefed up by players from the Canduman National High School.
The team’s highest finish in the Palarong Pambansa was a silver in 2013 in Dumaguete.