A first-time ever Inter-Collegiate slo-pitch softball tournament takes place starting April 30 tentatively set at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

The two-week tournament, backed by Cebuana Lhuillier Pawnshop, has already attracted several collegiate teams led by Ateneo, University of the Philippines, UST, La Salle, Adamson, Rizal Technological University and Polytechnic University of the Philippines plus Pato team, an all-star high school player selection from Marikina.

Sanctioned by the Manila Slo-Pitch Softball League (MSSL) and ASAPHIL, the country's ruling body on softball, the tournament is the initial step taken by sportsman-businessman Jean Henri Lhuillier for the sport after he was appointed as ASAPHIL Commissioner for Slo-Pitch Softball early this year.

"We have plans of holding regional and national slo-pitch softball tournaments in the future and this Inter-collegiate tournament will be a good way to initiate our long term program to promote and develop slo-pitch softball. This is a sport where we have shown Filipinos can excel at the Asian level, maybe even at the world level," said Lhuillier.

The Cebuana Lhuillier softball team has won back-to-back PANGEA Cup Super Division Championships the last two years, and in 2004, also won the Bangkok International Slo-Pitch League (BISL) overall championship. Next month the team will complete in an international tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Lhuillier's company is putting up P50,000, P30,000 and P15,000 worth of softball equipment as prizes for the top 3 collegiate teams in the forthcoming tournament, according to Davy Lan Perez who will be the tournament Commissioner.

For other interested teams, inquiries can be made with Mr. Perez at 897-2259 or 0919-8143037.