Close to 30 teams compete in Santa Fe Beach Volley Festival

Sports

IT’S going to be an action-packed Black Saturday in the town of Sta. Fe on Bantayan Island, Cebu as it hosts the inaugural Santa Fe Beach Volley Festival on April 4.

The one-day tournament will feature club teams from Manila as well as squads from the Universities Athletic Association, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and Cebu Schools Athletic Federation Inc (Cesafi).

Giving the tournament some sort of international flavor is a team from Guam.

Santa Fe Municipal Administrator Jay L. Contento said the town is positioning itself as a major sports tourism hub in Cebu and hosting the event will help strengthen the goal.

“Our main goal is to promote sports tourism in Santa Fe. We want visitors not only to relax, but also to enjoy the sports they love,” Contento said during the event’s launch on Wednesday, March 25, at Asmara Urban and Lifestyle Village in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.

Led by Mayor Ithamar Espinosa, the town is eyeing to make the tournament an annual event, a move that will further cement Sta. Fe’s status as one of the province’s top tourist destinations.

“The local government unit is now drafting a policy to make this beach volleyball festival an annual event,” Contento.

Contento was joined in the launching by tournament organizer Blake Diao, tournament director Jordan Paca, and venue host Carlo Cordaro, founder of Asmara.

Diao said the tournament is the biggest to be held in Cebu in recent years as he expressed confidence that the event will reignite the beach volley scene in the Visayas and Mindanao.

With close to 30 teams signing up, the tournament drew even comparison to the highly popular Nestea Beach Volleyball circuit.

“Some have asked if this is a revival of Nestea Beach Volleyball. We have the same caliber of teams from Luzon and the Visayas, and we’re aiming to match or even surpass that level,” Diao said.

Among the competing teams are Cesafi champions University of Cebu Webmasters and University of San Carlos Lady Warriors, University of Santo Tomas, and National University.

Teams from La Salle Benilde, Benedicto College, University of San Jose-Recoletos, UP Cebu, and Cebu City have also signed up.

Club teams such as Beach Volleyball Manila and the Fille Cainglet-Cayetano squad will also vie for glory while Santa Fe is likewise fielding its own team.

Paca explained that the tournament will have the men’s and women’s divisions with teams playing in a race to 21 points and single-round robin format.(CCM)