The Cebu Province Girls Under 15 Futsal Team bagged the silver medal in the Batang Pinoy Visayas Regional Championships last March 2019 in Iloilo City. Unfortunately, they will not be in Puerto Princesa for the national championships. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines–It’s a disappointing time for the Cebu Province Girls Under 15 Futsal Team as they will not be able to compete in the upcoming Batang Pinoy National Championships which will be held in Puerto Princesa, Palawan from August 25 to 31, 2019.
Head coach Binky Estrada said they are all prepared for the week-long competition and have submitted all their credentials.
But they were told that they will not be able to compete in the national event.
“Wala mi gipadala sa province (Cebu). Ambot, wala siguro budget. Nana mi ID, tanan tanan,” said Estrada.
(The Cebu province will not be sending us. I don’t know maybe they do not have the budget. We already have IDs, everything.)
The team manned by 12 players from Labogon National High School, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, St. Theresa’s College and University of Southern Philippines Foundation, bagged the silver during the Visayas Regional Championships which qualified them for the National Championships.
Only the gold, silver and bronze medalists or the best finishers are allowed to compete in the national championships.
Since the team finished second, it was expected that they will also compete in the national level.
The team from San Carlos City in Negros Occidental bagged the first place in the Batang Pinoy Visayas Regional Championships last March 2019 in Iloilo City.
According to Estrada, they were only informed early this month, August 2019, that they will not be joining the event in Puerto Princesa.
“Mao lagi sad nakasayop nila. Wala mi nila sultii sa sayo pa para makaandam mi. Pero wala mi mabuhat, ila manang desisyon,” added Estrada.
(That’s the mistake on their part. They could have informed us earlier so we could have prepared for it. But there’s nothing we can do now. That’s their decision.)
Estrada said that they were told that the Cebu Province will only be sending the gold medalists in team events and the gold and silver medalists in individual events.
Because the athletes will be representing their respective local government units (LGUs) in this competition, then it is also the LGUs’ prerogative to select who will join the national tilt.
“Nasagmuyo pud pero nakasabot raman sila,” said Estrada on the team’s reaction of the news.
(They were disappointed but they also understood.)
This would have been the team’s second stint in the Batang Pinoy National Championships.
Last year in Baguio, they brought home the gold in the Under 13 and the silver in the Under 15 categories.
Cebu Province finished on sixth place in the overall ranking with a gold-silver-bronze medal count of 23-8-20.
It also had it’s best finish in last March’s Visayas Regional Championships in Iloilo where it finished at third place in overall ranking with a medal haul of 38-38-52.
The Batang Pinoy is a sporting competition for the Under 15 athletes and is one of the talent identification programs of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC). /celr