15/08/2026
🚨𝘾𝙀𝙎𝘼𝙁𝙄 𝙃𝘼𝙎 𝘼𝙇𝙇 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙄𝘼𝙇𝙎, 𝘽𝙐𝙏 𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙏 𝙒𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙊 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀?
OPINION: As CESAFI Season 2026 draws near, Cebu's schools are once again preparing for another season of collegiate sports.
The Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. remains one of the country's longest-running intercollegiate leagues. It continues to produce talented athletes, competitive teams and memorable games.
But after years of covering CESAFI, one question keeps coming back:
Is the league moving forward, or is it simply moving on?
CESAFI has the materials to become a much bigger sports property. Cebu has the schools, the talented athletes, passionate alumni, basketball culture and stories.
What appears to be missing is a stronger willingness to change.
THE CROWD PROBLEM
Last year's silver anniversary proved that Cebuano fans can still get excited about CESAFI.
The University of Cebu and University of the Visayas alumni exhibition drew a strong crowd, while Game 3 of the men's basketball finals also showed what the Cebu Coliseum can look like when the stakes are high.
The problem is consistency. Many games in between struggled to attract significant crowds, including students from participating schools.
Ticket prices following the Cebu Coliseum's renovation may be one factor. But CESAFI also has to ask a more important question:
What is it doing to give students a reason to attend?
The UAAP and NCAA understand that building an audience is about more than scheduling games. They create school identities, rivalries, player personalities and events that make students feel part of the competition.
CESAFI can do the same. School-based season kickoffs, player introductions, pep rallies, campus visits and stronger promotion could help turn CESAFI from something students watch occasionally into something they feel belongs to them.
USE THE DATA
One of the best developments in recent seasons came from the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), which provided a statistician free of charge for CESAFI basketball games.
That immediately added another dimension to the league.
Reliable statistics allowed the media and fans to track potential MVPs and Mythical 5 candidates throughout the season. Players had individual milestones to chase, while fans had names and numbers to follow.
But that opportunity was undermined when CESAFI's basketball officials later selected their own Mythical 5 and MVP without clearly using or explaining the statistical data that had already been made available.
That was a missed opportunity. If objective statistics are available, why not use them to support the league's most important individual awards?
The numbers do not have to dictate every award, but they should be part of the conversation. At the very least, the league should be able to explain why its selections differ from the statistical results.
In modern sports, statistics are not merely record-keeping tools. They are part of the story. CESAFI already had the tool. It simply needed to use it properly.
THE BROADCASTING NEEDS INVESTMENT
CESAFI's digital coverage also deserves a serious review.
Much of the league's streaming and production work has relied on student volunteers who balance game-day duties with their academic responsibilities.
Their effort deserves credit. They are gaining valuable experience as broadcasters, reporters, producers and content creators.
But CESAFI should not rely primarily on students to carry the media operation of a major collegiate league.
Students can remain an important part of the system, but they need professional supervision, and, whenever possible, compensation.
If CESAFI wants greater media mileage, it has to invest in partnering with networks which are actually willing to ink a deal, but then again, there is no willingness on the officials' side.
The league also needs to recognize how today's audience consumes sports.
SPONSORS NEED A PRODUCT
CESAFI will never match the UAAP and NCAA peso-for-peso, and it doesn't need to.
The Manila-based leagues have larger markets, stronger corporate backing and greater national exposure.
But CESAFI can still become more attractive to sponsors.
It has schools with large student and alumni populations. It has athletes who can become marketable personalities. It has rivalries and stories that can be developed.
Those are valuable assets.
The challenge is turning them into a product that sponsors can clearly see value in.
That means better promotion, stronger digital content, reliable statistics, and a more professional presentation of the league.
Even something as simple as the championship trophy matters.
A championship trophy represents history. It goes into a school's trophy cabinet and becomes part of its athletic identity.
Last season's basketball championship trophy, however, did not exactly reflect the stature of a major collegiate league. The fact that champion University of the Visayas reportedly produced its own trophy to commemorate its four-peat should give CESAFI something to think about.
EXPANSION IS NOT ENOUGH
CESAFI's continued addition of member schools is encouraging.
More schools mean more athletes get opportunities to compete, more programs receive exposure and the league potentially becomes more competitive.
But expansion should come with a stronger value proposition.
New members should expect more than a schedule of games. They should expect meaningful competition, exposure, opportunities for their athletes and a league that actively helps connect them with students, alumni and the community.
Adding schools without improving marketing, fan engagement, media exposure and commercial support will not solve CESAFI's underlying problems.
CESAFI DOESN'T HAVE TO BE UAAP
CESAFI does not have to become the UAAP or NCAA. It probably never will, and that is fine. The goal should be to become the best version of CESAFI. Cebu has enough resources to make that possible.
It has the athletes. It has the schools. It has the history. It has the fans. It has the rivalries.
It even has proof that people will show up when the product is compelling. What it needs is a more modern approach to putting all those pieces together.
KEEPING THE TALENT HOME
Then there is the talent drain. Some of Cebu's best young athletes are being lured to UAAP and NCAA schools, and money is an important part of that equation.
Athletes have limited playing careers. Naturally, they will consider scholarships, allowances, better facilities, exposure and opportunities that can help secure their future.
CESAFI cannot blame players for choosing those opportunities.
But the league and its member schools can at least give them enough reasons to stay.
Before a young athlete decides to leave Cebu for a Manila-based league, CESAFI schools should be able to offer competitive scholarships and financial support, quality facilities, meaningful exposure, strong competition and a clear pathway toward a professional career.
It does not have to match the UAAP or NCAA peso-for-peso.
But if the gap becomes too wide, Cebu will continue losing its best talent before it has the chance to fully develop them.
The goal should not be to prevent athletes from pursuing bigger opportunities. It should be to make staying and representing their Cebu school a compelling option in the first place.
Give them enough reason to stay. Let them build their names in CESAFI. Let them represent their schools, communities and hometowns with pride.
This was already done when UC poured tremendous support for June Mar Fajardo.
And when the time comes to consider opportunities in Manila, they should be making that decision after CESAFI has already given them a strong foundation, not because they felt there was nothing more the league could offer.
Keeping talent in Cebu will require investment. But losing that talent year after year may ultimately cost CESAFI much more.
THE BIGGEST QUESTION
As a sportswriter who has spent years covering CESAFI, I have seen the league's strengths and its shortcomings.
The media can write the stories, promote the athletes and build anticipation.
But we cannot create the league's vision.
That responsibility belongs to CESAFI's leadership.
The league does not necessarily need more teams, more games or even dramatically more money to start improving.
It needs the willingness to look at itself honestly and ask:
What can we do better?
The biggest threat to CESAFI may not be the UAAP or NCAA.
It may be the belief that everything is already good enough.
CESAFI has all the materials to build something bigger. The schools, athletes, history, fans and stories are already there.
What remains to be seen is whether its leaders are willing to change.
Because sometimes, you don't fix something because it is broken.
You fix it because you know it can be better.
