THE Cesafi, Cebu�s premier inter-collegiate tournament, is now on its 11th year but despite that time, it still has to gain that massive following from the students.
Perhaps, it�s time for Cesafi to innovate? Here are a few suggestions.
1.) Go online. I think it�s safe to assume that 90 percent of all college students these days have a Facebook account and if the students can�t attend the games, an online presence for the games would be the next big deal.
Put up a fan page where fans and players can both interact and just watch the fans get into the action. Of course, to prevent interactions from getting out of hand, there has to be a moderator.
And since the Cesafi has a sponsor �Globe�one or two contests could do wonders too. Say, a brand new cell phone for the fan photo with the most number of likes? Or, why not make it five cell phones for a photo showing at a group of at least five students watching a Cesafi game? Not just a basketball match, but any Cesafi game?
2.) Tap the school papers. Each of the member schools has a campus paper and I think the Cesafi can reach more students if it taps them, and not just rely on the major dailies.
Sure, the school papers come out once every semester, and it�s quite expensive to print thousands of copies but there�s actually a way to solve that problem and is quite cheap and it�s been done before.
During the school intramurals we came out with daily �Peryodikits,� a one-page poster size update, which had three or four stories, which we pasted all over the campus and it was quite a hit.
For the Cesafi games, all the Cesafi has to do is invite the student writers for a brief seminar, teach them the basics of sportswriting and layouting of a one-page daily and let them go have fun.
3.) Change the schedule. I don�t think the 5:15 and 7 p.m. schedules for basketball are appealing for students. I mean, after the day�s classes, where would you go? Home, to an Internet shop, to go drinking or watch a Cesafi game?
Moving the games to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. might be better. This is college, not high school, and students sometimes have a two-hour break between classes they could waste better watching the Cesafi games.
4.) Bring the games closer. This year, tennis will be held at Alta Vista in Pardo and football at Don Bosco Liloan. Who the heck will travel all the way there to watch the games?
There are venues closer to home, why not hold these events there?
5.) Add events. Do you know what school announcement could be the biggest hit among students? One announcing the formation of�and the calling of tryouts for�the school�s Dota and billiards team.
These are games students play in their past time and if given the opportunity to play it for the school? How cool is that?
I mean, if there�s a contest for Mr. Cesafi, singing and debating, surely an inter-school billiards and online game contest make sense, too.
6.) Award an overall champion. This one is the easiest and involves only a few computations. The Cesafi has champions for each event but not an overall champion. Why? I don�t know.
Having that award, for me, will reward the school that joins the most events and force those that pour all its resources in just one team to take care of their neglected teams as well.
The Cesafi is already 11 years old, but it seems, nothing much has changed from the first edition to the latest. For the Cesafi to grow bigger, it has to get the students involved.
These students will, one day, become the rich alumni and if they have a rich Cesafi experience as students, perhaps they will continue to support their teams when they graduate.
And that�s what the Cesafi needs.
But to get there, the Cesafi must be willing to take that extra innovative step.
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