Call it V-League Winnipeg 2.0. A day before the official Spring season kicked in, a rowdy crowd of volleyball aficionados filled the rafters of the Red River College gym. Not even the chill and tail end of a Manitoba winter could dampen the spirits of the young and once-young who attended the 2nd Season of the De Quiroz-Mance Cup. It is truly heartwarming to hear the screams and cheers of the Pinoy fans who showed up on March 19, 2017 to render their love and support to their respective team.  From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for making the opening a success.

Like any organization, ours had its own shares of birth pains and challenges. I will be untruthful if I say that I was not disheartened in the beginning of our journey. At times, I second-guessed myself if putting up this league is worth my time and effort.  In its first year of existence, logistics was really challenging. On few occasions, people who truly believe in this league had to shell out personal money just to sustain its operation. And yes, we have our critics, too. In this digital age, people are trigger-happy to fire away in social media with complete disregard of facts and decorum. But we both embrace the good and the bad as part of a growing organization.

On a personal note, my years as a professor and sports coordinator in De La Salle University and Philippines National Police Academy in my hometown of Cavite nurtured my deep passion for Sports. So deep that a decade after, and thousands of miles away from our homeland, I am still here organizing, stubbornly may I say, a sports game that brings people together. I honestly believe that given the right support and environment, sports is an effective instrument to break down the walls of political and social indifference.

I happy to report that we had emerged stronger on our second season. We fortified our rules and regulations to avoid misunderstanding. Last year, our charity drive resulted in helping recipients in the Philippines, two babies that required to undergo liver transplant. This year, we intend to bring it a notch higher. We intend to launch “ Sulat-Kamay”, a charity drive to augment the school needs of poor students way back home. Our referees this season are all members of the Manitoba Volleyball Officials Association. And soon, our official website will be up and running. Thanks to the effort of a terrific website developer Nante Salaysay and seasoned writer Nick de Morayta.

Happy days are about to come for this league. And I am looking forward to expand this organization in the years to come.