Zethley Mae Alferez (left most) with her Central Visayas teammates Elizabeth Abarquez (center) and Sunzel Faith Callao (right). CDN PHOTO/GLENDALE ROSAL
Palaro gold medalist Alferez not keen on offers from Manila schools
With two Palarong Pambansa gold medals tucked under her belt, Cebuana Zethley Mae Alferez has received invitations from top universities in Manila to be part of their lawn tennis team.
But for the 17-year-old Alferez, a seven-year veteran in the Palarong Pambansa, home is where the heart is.
After winning a gold medal in her final stint in this annual multisporting meet yesterday at the Vigan City Tennis Club, Alferez said she’s more focused on pursuing a college degree in Cebu than continuing with her tennis career in Manila schools, where she’ll be far from her family.
The Bright Academy standout paired with Alferez University of the Visayas’ (UV) Elizabeth Abarquez to win the gold in secondary girls lawn tennis competition.
This is her second gold in the Palarong Pambansa, winning her first in 2016 in Albay.
“I’ve got offers from the University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, National University and others but I don’t have interests joining them because I will miss my parents a lot,” Alferez, an only child, said. “And I want to pursue a college degree rather than having a career in tennis.”
The Cebuana is planning to take up Civil Engineering in college.
The multi-titled Alferez said she will forever treasure her the last gold medal in the Palarong Pambansa, where she thinks she has learned something that she can use in her college life.
“The biggest lesson I have learned in the Palarong Pambansa is to never give up. Even if you lose this year, you have to train harder to improve so that you can win the gold medal the next year,” said Alferez.
She said that the friendships that she built and the overall experience in playing Palarong Pambansa will be the things she will miss.
Better than last year
Alferez and Abarquez’s gold was one of five won yesterday that put Central Visayas in fourth place with a 23-20-27 (gold-silver-bronze) tally.
National Capital Region (NCR) continues to lord the competition with a 80-59-43 haul followed by Calabarzon with a 50-40-59 tally.
Western Visayas is at third with a 38-36-46 record as the meet enters its final day today.
Central Visayas has already surpassed its performance last year, where it finished a dismal ninth place with 20 golds, 18 silvers and 29 bronze medals.
The other gold medalists yesterday were Tiffany Claire Nicole Nocos of Lapu-Lapu City’s Green Garden Christian School (elementary girls lawn tennis singles), Phoebe Nicole Amistoso, Ma. Feremi Gleam Bajado, and Crisha Mae Merto (archery team event), University of Cebu’s (UC) Eljey Dan Tormis (secondary boys’ table tennis), and Maria Sapio of Pajo National High School of Lapu-Lapu City (arnis sparring).
Catmon volleybelles lose
Meanwhile, Central Visayas’ top bet in the ball games, the five-time Palarong Pambansa elementary girls volleyball gold medalist Catmon Integrated School, faltered against Calabarzon, 27-29, 16-25, in the championship game at the Barangay Bede Laud gymnasium in Vigan City.
It is the second straight year that Catmon settled for a silver medal.
It lost to Central Luzon last year.
“It was painful for us but the girls showed tremendous heart in this match. We just had an off-game, every attacks, serves and returns that we make simply would not convert into points. We had so many errors that we did not commit in our previous matches,” said coach Zack Veloso, the son of Catmon Integrated School’s renowned school teacher-turned-volleyball coach Vilma Veloso.