Football heavy

Amidst all the comments of armchair experts on the Asian Games, the country’s basketball team and the controversial judging in boxing, there’s so much more exciting news on local shores. And for this, basketball and boxing take a back seat for football. This week alone has been one long period of football action.

If we trace back to the end of the previous week, a number of young, potential referees underwent a course for referees conducted by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). With the rise of more ballclubs and the calendar filling up with football events almost every weekend, there is a need for the influx and training of young referees. Their numbers also have to grow along with the growth of football over-all. This workshop came on the heels of an AFC “C” License course that the Cebu Football Association (CFA) hosted for Cebu coaches. It’s only logical that with so many young players starting to play football, we also need qualified and competent coaches to manage these teams. Looking at the medium term, the goal for Cebu Football is to have “C” licensed coaches handling all football clubs. By 2016, all coaches should have at least a “C” license.

But football wasn’t all about coaches and referees. What’s football without games, right? Cebu hosted games of the PFF Smart National Club Championships. The game of Groups D and E were played at the Cebu City Sports Center from Wednesday to Friday, with Cebu’s UC ERCO Bro Nationals winning both games of their group over Real Marbel (3-0) and UM-Tagum (5-1) of Davao. Laos FC, representing the Leyte Football Association, likewise won both their games, thus joining the Cebu team in the national finals which will be held in November in Manila. The other teams came from Marbel in South Cotabato, Tagum (Davao), Cagayan de Oro, and Naga in Camarines Sur. The pleasant surprise was seeing a good-sized crowd at the games, even if these were held on a weekday.

Somewhere in between, a first in the history of Cebu football took place. A piece of the fabled club FC Barcelona dropped by for a visit. No less than FC Barcelona Escola conducted a one-day tryout/camp for underprivileged kids on Thursday. They also had a press conference on the same day to break the good news about the FCB Escola Camp that will be held in Cebu October 26-30. Carles Martin, technical director of FCB Escola for the Asia Pacific, discussed the club’s plans for the first time with the Cebu media, sharing what the Barca way was all about, and how one of the world’s most popular ballclubs is reaching out to a worldwide market and audience. The even better news is that eight of the 80 kids who joined the FCB Escola tryouts will be given a chance to join the FCB Escola Camp at the end of the month, for free! The lucky kids may not realize it but this doesn’t happen too often in one’s lifetime. A group of FC Barcelona coaches will handle the October 26-30 camp that will include campers or players from outside the Philippines. They’ll learn more about the “Barca Way” and thus have the rare chance to experience what their idols like Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Neymar are experiencing. The local partner of FCB Escola is Team Socceroo of the Reyes brothers Nic, Mike and Paulus. (I wonder if they’re related to basketball’s version of the Reyes bros: Chot, Jun, Mike and Billy?)

And how do we end the week? With the CESAFI playoffs yesterday and today. The semifinals of both the high school and college divisions were played yesterday, and the finals will be played today at the Cebu City Sports Center. Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu defeated University of Southern Philippines Foundation, 5-4, via penalty shoot-out. Regulation ended in 1-all and the extension period remained scoreless. In the other semifinals game, Don Bosco eliminated USC, 12-0, to forge yet another CESAFI title showdown between the Greywolves and the Magis Eagles. As I write this piece, USPF is playing USJR, while UC plays USC in the semifinals of the collegiate division.

Both CESAFI championship games will be played today with the high school finals set at 1p.m. and the college finals following right after. So if you’re looking for some football action, the Cebu City Sports Center, a.k.a. Abellana, is the place to be today.

So how’s your football calendar? Don’t look now, but it’s going to be a very busy year of football.

* * *

Time-out: Happy birthday to my sister Anneli Navarro Christensen!