Talisay City Mayor’s Cup basketball tournament breeds star cagers

Every year, Talisay City holds the Mayor’s Cup Basketball Tournament with a bigger purpose.

Over the years, the Mayor’s Cup has become a breeding ground for Cebu’s basketball stars. This is where Gilas Pilipinas and PBA cager Roger Pogoy came from, while the entire Talisay City Aquastars roster was handpicked from this tournament, making it one of the most successful sports programs of the city.

Yesterday, the 2018 edition of the tournament was officially launched with the same purpose–to discover new talents. No less than Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas led the launching of the cash-rich basketball tournament that became instrumental in the city’s dominating success in the 2018 Cebu Governor’s Cup Inter Cities/Municipalities Basketball Tournament wherein the Aquastars finished off their campaign with a flawless 14-0 run en-route to winning the overall title.

“We continue organizing this tournament because we want our young basketball players in Talisay City to become not just successful in basketball but also academically. We all know that there are a lot of universities in the country that offer free scholarships for their recruited basketball players and our tournament have already proven to produce top calibre basketball players, so we proudly present this tournament again,” said Gullas during the launching yesterday at his office at the Talisay City Hall.

“This sport is also our way to make sure that our youth will be driven to the right direction and not into vices like drugs. The Mayor’s Cup is very important for us because this will surely help us guide our youth in the right direction,” added Gullas.

He was joined by fellow sportsman and Talisay City councilor Rodi Cabigas, former Talisay City mayor and now city councilor Socrates Fernandez along with the Talisay City Sports Commission officials during the launching yesterday.

Aside from Pogoy, rising cagers Elmer Echavez, the reigning MVP of the Governor’s Cup, and his teammate from the Talisay City Aquastars Kendrick Abarquez were recruited by the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) a year ago to join its lineup for the Cesafi while Jay Deiparine and Keaton Taburnal were both recruited by a school in Manila. All the mentioned cagers were proud products of the Mayor’s Cup.

Deiparine was last year’s MVP in the Mayor’s Cup junior division.

A total of 39 barangays vying in three divisions, the junior, open and seniors will start their respective campaigns on September 2 at the Talisay City Sports Complex.

Aside from the basketball tournament, a volleyball competition will be added to the Mayor’s Cup later this September which features also teams from the barangays. Also, the annual Gullas Run which is one of the activities in line with the city’s fiesta celebration is set to unfold in October.

The opening ceremonies of the Mayor’s Cup basketball tournament, meanwhile, on September 2, will be held at the Talisay City Sports Complex. Cebu first district Rep. Samsam Gullas will grace the opening ceremonies along with Mayor Gullas, and the Talisay City Aquastars. The opening ceremonies which will also have the parade of muse and a pageant will kick off at 3 p.m.