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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Friday, November 10, 2017
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No changes in Iloilo City sports programs
NEW Iloilo City chief executive Jose “Joe” Espinosa III will continue whatever dismissed mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog started in terms of local sports programs, a department head said.
Rommel Castro, head of the Iloilo City government’s Sports Development Division, told Buzzer Beater there will be no changes in the city’s sports programs – Espinosa is as passionate as Mabilog when it comes to sports.
“Despite the leadership change, we expect Iloilo City’s sporting program to be the same,” Castro said. “Mayor Joe is also a passionate sports fan so sports will sure be one of his priorities.”
Sports in the city had a boost this year with the launch of various age-group tournaments – boxing, futsal, chess, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and taekwondo.
Aside from these, the Sports Development Division also has programs for adults, senior citizens and even persons with disabilities.
Sports programs “help our youth hone their skills in their chosen sport,” Castro said. “Later they may be discovered and given a chance to play in bigger leagues or represent the country.”
“We at the Sports Development Division are really determined to continue what we have started,” he added. “This is our own little way of supporting our local athletes.”
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Three-time defending Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beermen will have to dig deep from its reserves after the departure of a number of reserves via trade and with rookie Christian Standhardinger still unavailable for its title defense.
In the offseason Beermen lost veterans Jay-R Reyes, Ronald Tubid and Rashawn McCarthy, who are all now with Kia Picanto in a trade for the top overall selection in the 2017 PBA Draft, which turned out to be Standhardinger.
While Beermen’s starters and second stringers look formidable – June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross, Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos, Brian Heruela, Gabby Espinas, Von Pessumal, Yancy de Ocampo, Keith Agovida, and Matthew Ganuelas-Rosser – its bench is shallow.
To fill it up, Beermen head coach Leo Austria said he looks to activate reserves Michael Mabulac, Axel Doruelo and Raymond Austria and sign up rookie draftees Louie Vigil and Jerome Ortega.
“For sure we’re a tough team but there are other tough teams out there,” Austria said. “We lost a number of players, Christian is still not available, so we have to look on our reserves, our rookies and probably scan the free agent market.”
“We have to be prepared because other teams are strengthening their lineups like Ginebra (San Miguel Kings), TNT (KaTropa) and Star (Hotshots),” he added. “There are also dark horses in NLEX (Road Warriors) and Blackwater (Elite) so it will be tough.”/PN
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