PFF U-15 Championships Visayas elimination gets underway

CEBU, Philippines — The Visayas elimination of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) U-15 Boys National Championship fires off today as archrival Cebu and Negros Occidental battle in the opening match at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Central Visayas Football Association (CVFA) botters will protect their turf as they go up against Negros Occidental Football Association (NOFA). Game time is at 3:30 p.m.

“Our team is composed of selection from all over Negros Occidental. Gearing up for this tournament was a challenge for us. NOFA will try their best to be competitive in this tournament,” said NOFA Secretary General and head coach Ronald Allan Reyes in a press conference yesterday at the Orange Karenderia in Parkmall.

CVFA head coach Martin Ferrer, for his part, believes that they are facing a daunting task against NOFA.

“My players were formed from a selection and they are from the different schools in Cebu as well. We had weeks of preparation for this tournament,” said Ferrer. “Tomorrow will be an El Clasico match in the Visayas, so they are fighting for their pride as well. I think the Visayas group is always the powerhouse so this is going to be a tough competition to get into the top,” he added.

Aside from CVFA and NOFA, other competing squads in the 11-aside tournament include Eastern Visayas Regional Football Association (EVRFA), Negros Oriental-Siquijor RFA(NOSRFA) and Panay FA.

The national tournament is PFF’s youth league development program. It is part of the federation’s identification program for the national team.

The U-15 National Championship has eight regional group stages nationwide and the games will be played in a home and away format.

The tournament follows a double round robin elimination where the top two winners from each group stages from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will advance to the National Championship slated in October. —Caecent No-ot Magsumbol