Encouraging fair play

The University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department (USC-BED) was chasing for that equalizer against Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) when winger Augustus Canoy did something remarkable--at least for me--that infuriated some of his teammates.

Canoy broke a USC attack on the other end, intentionally getting the ball out of bounds so DBTC’s Trevor Lood, who was writhing in pain on the other end after getting a “thank you” boot to the chest after a scuffle, could be treated by the medics.

Canoy’s teammates in the bench were furious at him for practicing “fair play” at such crucial moment but I believe what he did was remarkable. I talked back at the USC players, that it’s just a game.

“Bitaw, sakto to iya gibuhat,” said USC’s coach Dino Musni, who was leading the team in lieu of Allan Medalla.

Local teams have been increasingly practicing fair play here in recent years, which is a nice development.

The USC-DBTC match, though close, wasn’t particularly heated. There was one USC player who was trying to get into the nerves of the DBTC defense and he succeeded at times. But Dino took him out, lest he added to the tension.

What happened after he got out, though, was something. When the player’s attention was called out by a parent of DBTC, a USC parent took offense to that and despite being told not to by her husband (?), she went to the DBTC side.

Sure, it’s okay to cheer and jeer in sports, but I hope those who do it don’t get carried away. Perhaps, parents should just focus on the cheering for their own team instead of calling the attention of the players of the other team?

Anyway, they better control their emotions because the semifinals—should the coaches get what they want—is going to be an interesting affair.

Coach Glen Ramos is aiming for a second-place finish and if they fall short, third, while USC-BED is gunning for no less than no. 1 SHS-Ateneo de Cebu in the semis. That means it’s going to be DBTC vs. USJ-R in the semis. Ateneo leads at 12 points and is sure to finish no. 1 regardless of the result of its final game against DBTC, while USJ-R is second. USC is third at six points and DBTC is fourth at four points. USJ-R and USC will face each other next week, and depending on the result, USC could jump over USJ-R to second.

Still, whatever happens with the rankings, the semifinals will be anybody’s game and with the teams so even this year, any one of them could come out as the champion.