Cebu City Sports Body Launches ‘Extraordinary Coach’ Program

The Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) is now embanking on another approach to invigorate local sports programs in the city.

CCSC chairman Edward Hayco called it the “Extraordinary Coach Program,” which is conceptualized following the efforts made by Spanish air rifle coach Miguel Tajuelo.

“What we’re trying to build are long-term strategies. We call them the Extraordinary Coach Program. Instead of prioritizing the sports, we focus on the coaches, which one of them can deliver that extraordinary dedication,” Hayco said.

Hayco said Tajuelo, an air rifle coach hired by the Philippine Sports Commission and assigned to Cebu to teach the game to the Cebuanos, is one of the best examples of an extraordinary coach.

“We meant an extraordinary coach is a coach who has dedication, perseverance, initiatives, and attitude, can teach and communicate well and, most important, we (CCSC) don’t have to check on them every time, autopilot as we call it, a whole package. Coach Miguel is a good story, very creative just like our archery program. Air rifle is very expensive, but he’s now making air rifle at a very low cost, that includes laser practice targets,” Hayco said.

Currently, Tajuelo already has a pool of 100 kids from the public school, training directly under his supervision at the Cebu City Sports Institute.

They are sharing one top-notch competition rifle and 20 practice rifles with Tajuelo’s self-designed laser sights.

Among those who were qualified by CCSC as its extraordinary coaches were Dondon Sombrio of archery, Philip Dueñas and Joy Tabal of running, Loloi Rendon of dancesports, Gabriel Suico of badminton, Jessica Honoridez of table tennis, Dionisio Bacarisas of batted sports and swimming coach Lando Alvarez.

“This kind of coaches deserve special support because they are on auto pilot with or without our support. All it takes is just a little push and they go as far as they could. These coaches can produce extraordinary athletes in the future,” Hayco explained.

Sombrio has brought archery on another level, while Dueñas and Tabal produced potential running champions.

Rendon produced many national and international dancesports champions and Suico is among the top-notch badminton coaches in Cebu.

Honoridez has put Cebu table tennis on top of the country, while Bacarisas continues to teach and push baseball and softball to the youth despite minimal support.

Alvarez, who has already produced many gold medal winners, proved to be a vital piece on the CCSC’s Badjao kids swimming program. (PNA) LAP/EB/MP/EBP