The Consolacion Sarok Weavers. | Photo from Malazarte’s Facebook page.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Consolacion Sarok Weavers are locked and loaded for their campaign in the under-21 tournament of the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) that unfolds tomorrow, April 1, 2022, in Roxas City, Zamboanga del Norte.
In an interview with CDN Digital, the Sarok Weavers’ team manager and team owner Marc Malazarte said he is more excited than his players for tomorrow’s tip-off.
“As the team manager and owner of the team, I think I am much more excited than the players mainly because this is a dream come true to be part of a national tournament. To make things much sweeter for me is that my son is also part of the team,” said Malazarte who has been preparing the team along with fellow team officials and the Consolacion LGU for the past four months.
The Sarok Weavers will be tested on opening day by host Roxas Vanguards at 3 pm.
According to Malazarte, the team has different motivations going into the tournament. He stated that some have personal motivations while some wanted their skills to be noticed by top universities in Cebu and Manila.
“I guess it’s a mix of team and personal reasons. Personal motivation is that this league would be a platform for schools not only in Cebu but also in Manila to notice the players. The team also went through a lot since we formed the team, from the typhoon to a strand of the virus and multiple pushbacks of the dates when the league would start. So, the team is really prepared and hungry already,” said Malazarte.
Impressively, the Sarok Weavers already showed hints of their huge potential when they won all of their 11 exhibition games. They faced multiple teams from the same age group, from older age groups to teams that fielded in pros and ex-pros and won impressively against all of them.
“As for my advice to the players, give it your all and take advantage of this opportunity to play on the big stage because a lot of players would want to be in your shoes right now,” Malazarte’s tip for his team.
He also added that he is confident of his team’s performance in the league, given the months of preparation they had.
“With our four months of preparation, we are very much confident. As our coach (Paul Flores) says, we can’t promise to win every game, but we promise to come prepared and give 100% on every game to make not only the people of Consolacion but all Cebuanos proud,” added Malazaarte.
The team’s official roster is comprised of Rojan Montemayor, Patrick Gyle Montaño, Wesley Malazarte, Paulo Dalumpines, Froiland Maglasang, Neon Chavez, Christian Jay Alilin, Keaton Taburnal, Godfrey Sabanal, John Ray Almonia, Rovello Robles, Kin Dayday, Matt Flores, John Kirk Gonzaga, and Praveen Flores.
Kareem Alocillo will be the team’s head coach with Flores and Lee Mar Dahil as team consultants. /rcg