Divine Sarmiento, Alegria Tourism Officer, leads Alegria town officials in welcoming Kareem Alocillo, Consolacion Sarok Weavers head coach; and Rojan Montemayor, Finals MVP; during Alocillo and Rojan’s visit at the Municipal Hall. The other town officials are Kim Marie Leguiz, SK Federation head, and Emelio Cabañero, outgoing town councilor. | Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Consolacion Sarok Weavers’ head coach Kareem Alocillo and his prized ward Rojan Montemayor received a warm homecoming in Alegria in southwestern Cebu, following their massive success in the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) U21 Aspirants Division Cup.
Alocillo and Montemayor returned to their hometown earlier this week. They paid a courtesy call to town officials at the Municipal Hall of Alegria.
Divine Sarmiento, the town’s tourism officer, SK federation head Kim Marie Leguiz, and outgoing councilor Emelio Cabañero warmly welcomed them during their courtesy call.
Alegria is approximately 112 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
The young coach known for his grassroots coaching clinic in Cebu led the Sarok Weavers into its dominating run in the PSL U21 Aspirants Division Cup en route to winning the inaugural title last April in Roxas, Zamboanga del Norte.
The Sarok Weavers finished their campaign with a stellar 9-1 (win-loss) record, including their semifinals and finals appearance. They swept the host team, Roxas Vanguards, in the finals, 2-0, in their Best-of-Three Finals series.
PSL U21 MVP
Montemayor, a former University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Cub, was named finals MVP and the league’s Mythical Five for his dominating performance.
The Barangay Poblacion, Alegria native, tallied a monstrous double-double performance in their title-clinching victory in Game Two with 20 points and 21 rebounds.
For Alocillo, being welcomed by his hometown, folks surely warmed his heart, considering one of his goals in the PSL was to represent Alegria.
“Mao jud na akong goal to represent pud Alegria while coaching Consolacion. Although lahi gani nga municipality akong gi represent during the league, I always make sure to bring honor to where I came from,” said Alocillo from Barangay Santa Filomena in Alegria.
(That is my goal to also represent Alegria while coaching Consolacion. Although it was a different municipality that I represented during the league, I always make sure to bring honor to where I came from.)
“Coming from Alegria, our town is not that known in sports, so winning the PSL U21 is very special to Rojan and me. We always take pride in our achievement,” he said.
Coach on sports program
Alocillo said that before he was tapped as the Sarok Weavers’ head coach, he and his father had already initiated the town’s sports program where they discovered Montemayor.
Alocillo also coached Alegria’s basketball team that played in the Governor’s Cup of the Cebu Provincial government.
“Nakabuild na mi og team diri ug sports program kami sa akong papa. After niundang akong papa sa sports, ako ang nipuli niya sa Governor’s Cup. Amo pud gibuhat was training local coaches nga mao pud makapuli namo kung wala nami didto sa Alegria,” said Alocillo.
(We, my father and I, have built a team here and a sports program. When my father left sports, I replaced him in the Governor’s Cup. We also did training of the local coaches that can replace us when we won’t be here in Alegria.)
He also revealed that they were already yearning to get back into action in the PSL with the Sarok Weavers, which he considered his family.
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