By Mars G. Alison
Football enthusiasts in Cebu have a lot to look forward to this year as the inaugural tournament of the Don Bosco Football League (DBFL) kicks off Wednesday night with the Men’s Open category at the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC) campus in Punta Princesa, Cebu City.
DBTC and national head coach Glen Ramos said the idea of putting up a league was started when DBTC administrator Fr. Abondio Bacatan decided to upgrade the school’s football field into a standard size.
“We wanted to launch our standard-size football field so we thought of the league,” Ramos said.
The tournament will be a welcome development for Cebuano football enthusiast as it will be a sort of first of its kind here in Cebu.
Not only will it be a long-running tournament with March as its end date but it will also be played mostly at night and will be an 11-a-side in league-type format. This means that the team with the most number of wins gets the title.
Aside from the Men’s Open, other categories are the Women’s Open, Under 17, Under 13 and Under 12.
Ramos said that they are making sure that their game schedule will not be in conflict with the Aboitiz Football Cup—the longest running tournament in Cebu.
Games in the Men’s Open will be played every Tuesday and Thursday except for the opening.
The Men’s Open has attracted 12 teams while the Women’s Open, so far, already has four teams.
Ramos said they are looking for two more squads to add to the ladies’ category as the limit per category except for the Men’s Open is six teams.
Registration for the U17, U13 and U12 is still ongoing.
U17 will be for players born 1998, U13 for players born in 2001 while U12 will be for players born in 2002.
The tournament is aimed at preparing the players especially in the age-group categories for a standard, 11-a-side league-type game, which is what is being done in other countries and which is being followed by most international competitions.
“Most of our games here are 7-A-Side festival type and cup type which have different rules from an 11-a-side game,” said Ramos.
To kick start the tournament tomorrow, seeing action are University of Cebu-Nigerian versus Don Bosco United Football Club and Magone FC versus Leylam FC.
It was also Leylam who sponsored the standard-size goals for the tournament.
If plans push through, teams will also have a lot to look forward as tournament organizers are planning to send the winning teams to a tournament organized by Philippine Azkals team captain Chieffy Caligdong in Iloilo this June.
Ramos said that all teams seeing action in the inaugural tournament will become members of the DBFL and will get a slot to the Board which they are forming.(www.fullpointcebu.com)
