A CEL player during the MLBB championships. | CEL photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebuano Esports community has something to look forward to in June as the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) Esports League (CEL) will roll off its pre-season tournament earlier than expected.
Earlier this week, CEL officials announced that they’re planning to organize CEL’s pre-season tournament in the first weekend of June.
To recall, the CEL had a successful second season earlier this year with the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors and the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Adelante emerging as champions.
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The Warriors topped the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), while the Adelantes captured the Valorant title in the grand finals held at the International Eucharistic Center (IEC) Convention Center.
Pre-season tournament
According to CEL tournament director, Ryan Balbuena, they are planning to hold the pre-season tournament every weekend starting in June. They are planning to hold it inside shopping malls in Cebu City to further promote CEL, Esports, and its community.
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“Games in MLBB and Valorant will be played on Saturdays and Sundays, following the previous season’s pattern. It will likely take place at Cebu malls on the final weekend of July. Our goal is to bring players to shopping centers so that the CESAFI Esports League may be more widely known and so that fans and players can engage,” Balbuena said.
He added that the pre-season tournament will be as exciting as the regular season which is tentatively scheduled in the last quarter of the year along with the rest of the Cesafi sports events.
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“Teams are excited about it; I’ve received messages from several players who want to see rematches between different schools and to show off their team tactics when new players join them,” Balbuena added.
Passion for Esports
What makes CEL remarkable in Cesafi is its purely volunteer-run organization comprised of aspiring students who share the same passion for Esports.
“We have honed our tactics throughout two preseasons and two regular seasons to further improve CEL. We’re hiring to grow our organization beyond its current limits, so I’d want to thank my CEL family for their unrelenting dedication and look forward to adding more student volunteers to our team,” Balbuena said.
The competing teams in the pre-season are yet to be announced as Balbuena recently met with Cesafi member schools’ athletic directors.
Likely, USC, USJ-R, and other Cesafi member schools including the newly-introduced members will compete in the CEL’s preseason.