TOUGHER THAN THE ILOCOS SUMMER HEAT

by Fel Gorospe

The heat is on.  With the summer heat at more than 36?C or 97?F in Ilocos Sur, it’s definitely going to be tough. Toughing out the Ilocos heat and as a testament to the commitment to reinforcing football awareness and competitiveness to the northern region of the Philippines, 27 football teams felt the heat at the 1st Ilocos Youth Football Association (IYFA) Football Festival held on May 6-8, 2011 at IYFA Football Field, Brgy. Miramar, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur.

BEACH EXHIBITION GAMES
Teams and their coaches including players lining up for the commencement of beach football and exhibition games held in Miramar Beach, Barangay Miramar, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur.

Comprised of 16 field football teams and 11 beach football teams with more than 120 players, the 27 teams who vied for gold came from different cities and municipalities of Manila, Makati, Mandluyong, Vigan, Magsingal and Laoag. The three-day festival has been a showcase for football clubs and teams to convene and prove their athletic competitiveness at the newly inaugurated IYFA Football Field and the make-shift beach football area in Brgy. Miramar, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur.

Divided in three parts for the three-day event, the first day was dedicated for the youth division with U18, U14 and U11 categories. The second day is an open division subdivided into men’s field football and youth beach football games. Finally, the third day highlighted exhibition games by IYFA teams showcasing their superiority in beach football games.

COACH ON CAM
President of Ilocos Youth Football Association (IYFA) and accredited Asian football referee Coach Mr. Edgar Robert O. De Jesus answers questions of ABSCBN Sports News reporter during the Football festival.

Key guests and speakers include Vigan City Vice Mayor Luis Ryan V. Singson, Municipality of Santa Mayor Jeremy Jesus Bueno III, VGent Group of Companies Chairman Emeritus Mr. Felicisimo Gorospe, VGent Group of Companies Overall Chairman Mrs. Erlinda A. Gorospe, Philippine Football Federation (PFF) General Secretary Mr. Ramon Manuel, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federated Chairperson Ms. Marie Gabrielle Kayla Mendoza and Department of Education (DepEd) Ilocos Superintendent Dr. Marino S. Baytec.

LEADERS OF ILOCOS
(L-R) Overall Chairman of VGent Group of Companies Mrs. Erlinda A. Gorospe, Mayor of Municipality of Santa Hon. Jeremy Jesus Bueno III, Vice Mayor of Vigan City Hon. Luis Ryan V. Singson, General Secretary of Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Mr. Ramon Manuel and Chairman Emeritus of VGent Group of Companies Mr. Felicisimo P. Gorospe as they prepare for the 1st Ilocos Youth Football festival (IYFA) Football Festival’s kick-off ceremony.

Mr. Felicisimo P. Gorospe, VGent Group of Companies patriarch, formally opened the festival announcing that “the first IYFA football festival is aimed to unite cultures and people through football, by encouraging them from all backgrounds to play together and help promote competitiveness and understanding in all aspects of life”.

On Day 1, Laoag United Football Club (LUFC) Team A championed the U18 category with the peak of their performance highlighted by their impressive footwork against IYFA Damongeros Team, 4-0.  Meanwhile, the energy and fierce offense of Miriam Academy of Valenzuela (MAV) Smokey Team kicked other teams and earned them the gold for both U11 and U14 categories.  Don Bosco Makati (DBTI) Teams A and B, bagged the 1st and 2nd runner up, respectively in the same U11 and U14 categories.

LEADERS ON CANDID
(L-R) Mrs. Erlinda A. Gorospe with Mr. Felicisimo P. Gorospe of VGent Group of Companies together with Vice Mayor Luis Ryan V. Singson, and Mayor Jeremy Jesus Bueno III witnessing action and suspense  of the 2nd day of 1st Ilocos Youth Football Association Football Festival in IYFA Football Field.

The seemingly brick wall defense of Modesta Team of Mandaluyong became material for them to emerge as champions during Day 2 of the 1st IYFA Football Festival, Open Men’s Division.  Playing against Modesta Team of Mandaluyong is the equally impressive offense of Vigan Football Club (VFC) Kugtaleros Team who harvested the 1st runner up position.  Laoag City Football Club (LCFC) showed the crowd various exhibition moves during their multiple playoffs in the Open Men’s Division placing them at 2nd runner up, while Vigan Football Club (VF) Matadores Team paved the way for their red-colored uniform to flag the 3rd runner up honors.

Concurrently with the field football games on Day2, the beach football games which is a unique type of football was held in the nearby beach at Brgy. Miramar, Magsingal Ilocos Sur.  The local teams IYFA Dagateros Team championed all categories, including the U18, U11 and Open Men’s categories in beach football proving them the superior in footwork while in scourging heated sand.  Equally impressive, under the Women’s Division, IYFA Dagateras Team and IYFA Damungeras team bagged the gold for both U18 and U11 categories.  

REFEREES AND COACHES AT YOUR SERVICE
The head coaches of repective teams together with the referees poses with Coach Bobby De Jesus before the games begin during the 1st IYFA Football Festival.

The last day of the festival is an exhibition game on an all-round beach football games.  As expected, all IYFA Teams in both men’s and women’s division played impressively in the football games held at Miramar Beach.

"It was an amazing experience and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves both on and off the pitch. The tournament itself was very professionally run and all went very smoothly, one of the best features was the compactness of the main site and the closeness of our accommodation to the main venue. The food was excellent considering the large amount of people they had to feed. However, it was football we came for and we were very impressed by the standard of competition offered in the Open Division. We would definitely consider coming back again," said by Matadores Coach Jessie Puruganan.

The event was covered by Core TV channel 10 and ABS-CBN News Team.

More photos during the event: