N.M. Cabangbang
UP Cebu College has always loved its football. It is even safe to say that football is the college’s official sport because of its existing student and alumni football clubs as well as its representation in the local football leagues in Cebu. Let us face it, if UP had a basketball team, it would have no chance to win in competitions outside the campus because there are very few 6 footers on campus. Only UP Football has the shot at winning in a sport event. History has proven that. The generation of Jikoy Carvajal and Pehzman Behjouyan was the team that won the City Olympics football twice in the past years. Then, most recently, the UPFC women’s team has also been vying for championships in commercial leagues too. So again, it is safe to say, football is UP Cebu’s official sport. However, UP football is having its issues right now; issues that, as of now, still remain unresolved.
One of the issues UP Football players are dealing with right now is about other non-UPian players (or outsiders) bringing the UP name when joining tournaments. Commercial football leagues in Cebu categorize participants or teams according to age, not affiliation. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this platform. In fact, I think it is the right thing to do. Players can form their teams, whether school-based or not as long as they comply with the age requirements. That is the reason why there are high school or college teams, alumni teams, company teams, or just a group of friends with the love for football (and same age bracket) in common who end up joining the league. Again, there is nothing wrong here.
However, something has come up that has bothered a lot of UPian players. Because teams are determined primarily by age, not by school or company affiliation, there is no particular rule addressing the team-naming. Which means, there are now football teams bringing the U.P. name even if they are non- UPians. Some of these teams play to represent the college; some represent the alumni. Some of these teams have U.P. players mixed with outsiders. Some of these teams have a majority of outsiders and few UPians but they still manage to bring the UP name.
So how did this come to happen? Why did it get to the point that non-Upians start using the UP name in tournaments? Well, for the college teams, I think it started with having a non-UPian as coach for the men’s team. Because of this, he has allowed outsiders to play on the UP team. A non-UPian coach who has not experienced what it is to be a UP player can just lightly bring the university’s title without care because he has no inkling how UPians truly carry and feel about the recognition. Then, when it comes to the student players, I believe they do not know how to respect the UP title or simply are afraid to go against their coach. In effect, they submissively allow this.
This too, brings a question to mind, has UP ran out of great players that they now allow outsiders to play in the team? So what happens if and when these outsiders stir up some trouble or embarrassment while bringing the UP name? They can bring the university’s reputation and prestige down. And worse, they wouldn’t care if they do so because they are not UPians in the first place.
I am not necessarily saying here that non-UPian coaches should not coach a UP Team. That is allowed but they should be aware of their decisions and be sensitive of the UP Title because it is not theirs to just lightly carry around. The UP title bears all the history and prestige to the name, all UPians should know and respect that. All non-UPians should do the same thing as well.
What about the alumni teams, you say? The situation is common, after school, everyone usually goes their own ways. Schedules begin to differ and the next thing you know, you guys can’t all meet up for a game. The result? A lack of players. Now because there are not enough players to make a team, the remaining few are “forced” to invite available non-UPians to complete their roster. I am not sure if this generally true to all alumni teams. I could be wrong. But I do sincerely think that UP alumni players who form teams with non-UPians better not bring the UP name. This is respectful to the university’s name and is basically the rational thing to do. You cannot call your team of 11 or so members the “UP Alumni Team” when only 2 or 3 of you are actually graduates of the said university.
Me, I don’t get these football teams’ need to use the UP name. Firstly, UP is not “all that” in the Cebu football scene. I mean, the Don Bosco, Hiroshi, or USC name/team would be a better choice compared to UP because these 3 aforementioned teams are the stronger lot. So why choose UP?
In terms of solving this, I don’t know whether making stricter team-naming rules is the answer. More precisely, I am unsure on how to solve such a situation. Is this a problem among UPians that only they should solve? Or is this is a problem for the Cebu football scene? Moreover, if there is no rule, what is stopping other teams from bringing the Don Bosco, Hiroshi, or USC names even if they are not officially part of such teams? Does a group of some 3 or 5 Bosconian players have the right to bring the Don Bosco title even if majority of their teammates are not Bosconians? Is that allowed?
Judging from the circumstances, it is easy to see that this practice is allowed. There are no existing rules about this. So as long as there is no clear-cut guidelines for this, then a non-UPian football team will continue to bring the UP title. They can do what they will with the name. They can use it however they want to. And they can do so with disregard of the people who really do care about the title or the name they are using – the real UPians.
This, then, brings me to the second issue that UPian players are dealing right now. And that is, the use of the UP-AS football field. Presently, outsiders “own” the U.P. Field, not the UP students. What leads me to this conclusion? It is evident in the situation wherein a group of students or alumni plan to use the UP field during the weekends or during holidays. Come that day and voila! There is already a group playing in the field. There is no space left because these people have occupied the entire area. Who are these people? From what UP department are they? Then these UP students then find out that the people on the UP field are not students nor are they alumni of the university. In fact, none of them have official ties to the university. Despite this, it is these “outsiders” who end up using and “owning the rights” of the UP field. And the UP students? Well, they might as well take their game somewhere else.
Some may not exactly grasp the gravity of the circumstances. So allow me to spell it out for you all. This…this blatant loss of rights to your own territory is one big factor in disintegrating the UP football culture. How? There no longer is a field to practice on. Alumni teams are forced to go look for another space and are made to pay to play on other football fields. All these, while outsiders play free on a U.P. Football field. And with the present lack of field and finances for rent of privately-owned football fields, a lot of these U.P. Alumni teams have decided to disband. And worse, the U.P. Administration does not seem to care enough to address and solve the problem. Security guards do not reprimand the outsiders. In fact, security guards do not even know who the student/alumni are and who are not. Worse, too, U.P. College players do not seem to care as well. They do not seem to want the issue solved. I do not even know if the U.P. Student council knows of such a problem.
Well, we all know that U.P. does not have a “no ID, no entry” policy and I am fine with that. UP, as a government-backed university, should be open to all taxpayers. However, it does not mean that outsiders can just use the facilities anytime they want. Yes, it is open for outsiders but UP students and alumnae should be given priority. If anybody can use the field, then it is but rational to have anybody simply use the classrooms or conference hall as they wish; even if there are students using it.
That is stupid, if you ask me. The result would be chaotic. The non-existence of a “no ID, no entry” rule is not the problem here. Rather, it is with the present crop of students who are too afraid to contest the discrepancy or those who are too ignorant of the rules and their rights. This shouldn’t even be an issue. UP is known to be a college where activism thrives-UPians are supposed to be outspoken and aware of their rights. But no, here we have UP Football players who are ignorant or are afraid to fight. That is very funny, so funny that I am even tempted to say that these present UP generation are either cowards or illiterate of their student rights and welfare.
What about the UP Administration? What are they doing? Well, they have allowed outsiders to use the field before. But outsiders, then, were required to pay P200 per hour. Over time, that rule has been ignored and forgotten. Soon enough, outsiders use the field freely. UP’s lack of a “No ID, no entry” policy is not an excuse either. First of all, security guards can just take pictures of the frequent outsiders who play and when they come back, the guards can now bar these outsiders from the premises. Next stop, they can start putting signboards that state that the field is not open to played freely by outsiders and if they want to use it, they should pay the rate. By doing this, outsiders will know and follow the rules of the UP Field.
All of these problems about the field will be solved only if the students and alumni start demanding for their rights to field and correspondingly, for the administration to start laying down the law. It needs to be a joint effort between the three to make it effective. The way is there, it’s the will that’s missing. And as long as this skewed situation exists, UP students who want to practice on weekends and holidays can kiss their football field goodbye. As long as this skewed situation exists, UP alumni football teams can kiss their football field and even teams goodbye as well. As long as this skewed situation exists, come graduation for the present crop of U.P. College players, they, too will no longer have U.P. Alumni teams to join in. They have no choice but to join other teams or quit playing football altogether. They can stay healthy by playing other sports or worse, lose their playing form and just get fat. Football’s loss is someone else’s fat gain.
So, to end, a question to UP students, alumni, and admin: What is it, really? For the love of football or for the loss of football?
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