Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk November 18, 2007 Quiet Kids Football Scene If you’re a follower of local youth football, then you’re probably on a high right now as your read the news about the performance of Cebu’s under-15 team at the Philippine Olympic Festival. As of yesterday, they swept their group, 4-0, and are already in the semifinals which took place yesterday. A win there would mean a trip to today’s finals. That’s the good news and if there’s good, bad news won’t be far behind, right? I don’t want to describe it exactly as bad news, but let’s just call it a “concern.” I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but the youth football scene has suddenly become quiet after the San Roque Festival and the Mint Sports Shop Festival held in August. Three months later and approaching Christmas, I haven’t heard of another football festival coming up, at least not officially that is. The down part about this impasse is that the very foundation which has become the source of talents for our older Under-15 and Un

SHSJ TAKES 2ND PLACE IN ALASKA CUP The Sacred Heart School Jesuit Football Club (SHSJ FC) grabbed second place of the Boys 10 age group at the Alaska Cup Football Festival Sunday at the Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa City. The SHSJ FC lost to Tamasak Football Club of football hotbed Barotac Nuevo Iloilo, 1-2, in a penalty shoot-out in a nail-biter of a championship game. The game ended 1-1 in regulation with Gani Fernandez scoring the first goal of the game for SHSJ FC in the first half. Tamasak, however, came back strong in the end game, scoring the equalizer with three minutes left in the game. With both teams tired after a long day of football, no other goals were scored and the championship was decided through a penalty shoot-out. The runner-up finish proved to be a memorable achievement for SHSJ FC which was making its first appearance at this annual football festival that drew teams from all over the country. SHSJ FC dominated its group in the elimination round, sweeping the

Bleacher Talk November 11, 2007 SHSJ on a Mission As most of us were enjoying the luxury of a double whammy long weekend last week, two teams of the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit (SHSJ) quietly slipped out of Cebu and headed to Bacolod to compete in the Visayas Regional Finals of the Milo BEST Basketball Tournament. The minor surprise that might have jolted students and the local Cebu basketball world enjoying the sem break was the fact that the Eagles were the ones representing Cebu at the Milo BEST Visayas Finals. SHSJ going to the regional finals hasn’t been the norm and has in fact been a first for the school. University of San Carlos (USC) North and South have always been Cebu’s representatives to this tournament as they’ve dominated the Cebu scene for the Pasarelle (13-14 years old) and SBP (12 & under) age groups for the past decade. But could there be a changing of the guard? Is it SHSJ’s time to shine? For the first time after seven years, SHSJ scored a double championship in