Text and photos by: Iste Sesante Leopoldo
SOUTHWESTERN University (SWU) has extended its help to the beach volleyball program of the Cebu City Sports Commission.
SWU coach Dave Arreza, together with his men’s, women’s beach volleyball team and the men’s indoor team, has been facilitating the grassroots program since July among the 6 to 12-year-old pupils from the Tejero Elementary School (TES).
“We gave our commitment to the CCSC grassroots program because we want to share our talents with these kids. While conducting the training, we saw a lot of potential in them,” said Arreza.
Arreza said they chose Tejero because more than 100 pupils have signed up for the program. The program is held every Friday and Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the sand court in Plaza Independencia.
“The pupils came here of their own free will, we didn’t oblige them to join and it’s so overwhelming to see these pupils attending the training regulary and that shows how much they are interested in the sport,” said TES volleyball coach Aurora Codilla.
Codilla also said that some of those who joined are her players in indoor volleyball.
“With our daily training, I can see a lot of improvement among my players after joining the CCSC grassroots program. The drills in the program have really helped our indoor team a lot,” said Codilla.
Over the years, TES usually ends up as one the top five teams in inter-school tournaments and some of her players have represented Cebu City in the Central Visayas Athletics Association (Cviraa) meet.
With the program in place, Codilla is optimistic that the team can finally get to represent Cebu City in the Cviraa.
Seven-year-old Princess Janelle Boltron, a Cebuana of French descent, was among the participants who have not missed a single training because she finds the sport very interesting.
“I have never played volleyball in school but when I heard about this, I got curious and I joined. Since then, I never missed a single training because it is so much fun and challenging,” said Boltron, who is a former gymnast.
Meanwhile, CCSC Chairman Edward Hayco said that the long wait of getting committed coaches and trainers to conduct the beach volleyball grassroots program is over.
“I am glad that the group of Arreza is very committed to the program. That was lacking when we started our aggressive campaign in producing more competitive beach volleyball players. His team has been very consistent in the grassroots program,” said Hayco.
Hayco recently implemented a program that encouraged coaches from private schools to lend their expertise or to help train students of public schools.
Published a thttp://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2015/08/24/swu-helps-ccsc-426461
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