Phl Volcanoes bound for Olympics, WCup?

2011 has been a phenomenal year for the Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU). Our men’s teams have leapfrogged other Asian powers, which have been playing the sport much longer, and will set a record when we first break into the International Rugby Board (IRB) ratings next year.

“Because we finished second to Japan in the Asian Championships last month, when the IRB rankings next year, from over 130 countries ranked, out of nowhere we will come in straightaway at number 50,” PRFU program director and former national coach Matt Cullen told The STAR. “That will send shockwaves through the rugby world.”

Even better, the top two teams in Asia will be given a shot at qualifying when rugby 7’s makes its debut in the 2016 Olympic Games. As of today, that would be the Philippines and Japan. Because of this, the PRFU will be promoted from an associate member to full voting member of the Philippine Olympic Committee. In addition, if the Volcanoes win Division 1 of the Asian Five Nations (A5N) next year, the country will be sent into the pool of qualifiers for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That is an amazing development when you consider that the PRFU was only organized in the year 2000 and started forming teams for international competition six years ago. Today, even the PRFU board is 70 percent Filipino.

“When we first started, our teams were mostly expats with two Filipino players, and our sponsors gave us just enough to survive,” Cullen recalls. “Now, all our teams are entirely Filipino-heritage players, with at least four homegrown players. And we are in a different situation in terms of sponsorship.”

The PRFU has a permanent pool of 40 players, most of whom are Fil-foreigners for now, who play professionally and semi-professionally in many parts of the world, but are contracted to play for either the Philippine men’s 7’s or 15’s teams. They fly in two weeks before a major tournament, are taken to a secluded training camp outside Metro Manila, and go to their competition. The players know their priorities, and since almost all of them are born of Filipino mothers who rear them with stern discipline, they are definitely reluctant to lose focus. Many of the mothers weep tears of joy whenever they see their sons out on the field in a Philippine team uniform.

According to Cullen, the focus as of now is in the development. PRFU started its under-20’s team in 2006, and four players from that squad are now playing for the men’s Asian runner-up team. Last year, the Union also fielded its first women’s team to international competitions. This year, the women’s 7’s team was ranked dead last in the B division, swept, and was invited to the Hong Kong 7’s, Asia’s most prestigious rugby tournament, ahead of the men. Cullen was stunned at the reception they received, and said that since he was the only male in the delegation, he became the most popular man in Hong Kong, as male players and non-players alike wanted to meet the pretty Lady Volcanoes. And since less female expats play the sport, the team is made entirely of homegrown talent.

But one area where the Volcanoes have set an example in is their development and outreach programs. A contingent of orphans from the Bahay Bata Foundation of Angeles, Pampanga was treated to a 14-day tour of all the historic football stadia of England, courtesy of Clifton College. The PRFU also has programs in Tuloy Foundation, Duyan ni Maria and WE International of Smokey Mountain. These kids are part of the under 16, under 14 and under 12 competitions, where they routinely beat teams from international schools from the big cities. For the lower age groups, PRFU teaches touch rugby as a mandatory introductory course.

Next year will be an even bigger year for rugby union in the Philippines. Beyond all the attention they received from those massive underwear billboards on EDSA, we will be hosting Sri Lanka, Singapore and Chinese Taipei in the Asian Championships in April. Also, an all-Filipino developmental team is following close behind in the footsteps of the Volcanoes, having swept Divisions 5 and 4 of the A5N, stunning Asian rugby. In the next Asian Games, we are sure to medal. The Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee recognize the potential of the sport and have thrown their full support behind it, realizing that it is one of few events where we can and have beaten China and Korea, as the boys did last month.

Because of the success of the Volcanoes, more world-class Filipino players have offered their services to the flag. Expo Mejia, a professional rugby coach in Australia and Japan, has come onboard, further boosting the team’s high standards. Mejia has also found our players jobs in the tough pro circuit in Japan, where they are now only a stone’s throw away from their mother country.

“That situation works well for everybody, since Expo coaches in Japan also and he can watch over our boys,” Cullen explains. “And in the professional league in Japan, they are allowed one player from Australia, England or the US, and one player with an Asian passport. When they see our boys, they are getting a player who grew up playing a high level of rugby in Australia or those other countries, but who happens to have a Filipino (Asian) passport. So they’re very happy.”

In the next couple of years, Filipinos will be everywhere at rugby’s highest level. And it will be thanks to the efforts of Matt Cullen and the PRFU, and young Filipino men who want to make their country proud.

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The second “Trek the TEC” vertical run at The Enterprise Center in Makati fires off on Nov. 26. Runners will face the 90-floor race up and down TEC’s scissor-type stairs, ending on top of its second tower vegetable farm with a breathtaking view of the Makati skyline. Interested participants may e-mail [email protected], call 09175551450, 09192956555 or 09228302504, or check out the “trekthetec2” Facebook page.