Ateneo Football League launch/meeting Feb 19 2011

We're inviting all those interested to attend the Ateneo Football League launch/meeting tomorrow Feb 19, 2011 from 1030-1130am at the Dalupan Room of the Blue Eagle Gym. The tournament which will conducted under the auspices of the National Capital Region Football Association will begin this April.

Jerry Ngo, NCRFA General Secretary and former Ateneo keeper (back in the late 60 and early 70s in the NCAA), will be the tournament commissioner. Mr. Ngo will be in attendance for the meeting.

The AFL is also working with the University Athletics Office. And our advisers are (outside the NCRFA): Woowee Evangelista, Paul Arcenas, and Chito Caluag. I have yet to speak to Randy Roxas about this but I am sure that the Man, who is supportive of football, will no doubt help us in this endeavor.

Agenda:

1. Q&A with tournament organizers (Rick Olivares, Rely San Agustin, and Jerry Ngo)

2. Discussion of rules and regulations 

- We are refining the rules, regulations, and mechanics as there is a lot of input from alumni and current students. We welcome suggestions and comments and we hope to hear from you tomorrow.

- If you would like to submit your team lineups by tomorrow that will be all good. And the final submission of lineups will be late March 2011. 

3. Presentation of football kits to be used for the tournament.

4. Next steps: we will disseminate the final rules, regulations, and mechanics one week after Feb. 26) and begin accepting registration. This info will be posted in Bleachers' Brew, ateneo.edu, and our Facebook Page within the week.

We met twice with University Athletics Director Mr. Ricky Palou and we agreed that this is an alumni undertaking wherein we will provide a portion of the proceeds to the Ateneo High School for a scholarship. Previously, we wanted to give to the Ateneo Football Program but the UAO is working on that and Mr. Palou said the AHS needs help in scholarships so there we go. The AFL will also provide the final set of plans to the UAO within the week. 

This is not a one-time tournament. We have a second cup planned that is an invitational. And there will be an 11-a side competition as well for that. What does the invitational mean? A team can have up to two non-Ateneo players and there can be guest teams. Already, the Gawad Kalinga football team has asked if they could participate. And speaking of participation, the first cup/tournament is open to all Ateneans (de Manila, Iloilo, Zamboanga, Cagayan, Naga, and fellow Jesuit school Xavier High School). Even Ateneo staff are invited to join. Even those who went to Taft after a few years in Ateneo (yes, that's you Mr. Alvin Ocampo). Even coaches like Coach Power and Coach Raul A. can join!

We recommend that you look at the back pages of Bleachers' Brew for more info about the Ateneo Football League. 

Right now, these are what we are calling our divisions:

high school - The Cabalida Cup (in honor of former Ateneo high school and current Air Force head coach and Azkals assistant head coach Edwin "Diding" Cabalida).

college - The Merida Cup (in honor of Arnulfo "Ompong" Merida who helped Ateneo to five UAAP seniors football titles).

Just for Fun division - The Oscariz Cup (after former Ateneo Grade School football coach Bro. Jess Oscariz. That red-hairded Spanish Basque who was instrumental in the growth of the game in Ateneo). There's a free clinic on Opening Day for newbies to the game. Bro. Jess used to watch all the intramural games for players to tryout for the varsity teams. He went to my class one day and told me to try out. Man, I still remember that goal.

Women's Division - Sorry, we don't have a name for this division cup yet! Help!

Open Division - The Chris Monfort Cup (this is different from the Annual Monfort Cup). We are simply naming that particular part of the competition after the late Ateneo coach and PFF General Secretary.


We're off! This is gonna be great.

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Coach Bert Honasan, if you're reading this (I know we are nearby neighbors in the same subdivision), we hope you will get involved with the AFL (sorry I lost your number). In case you want to know, Coach Bert and Coach Chris M both played for UP and even before their graduation, they were helping out in the Ateneo football program. Chris was the high school coach while Bert was in the college. 


Thanks to Mr. Palou; Mr. Jun Dalandan; Aika Lim, Quico Muñoz, and Nico Lim of the Guidon, Mark Zambrano of GMA7; TJ Manotoc (I hope you play, bro!) of ABS CBN; NCRFA (Atty. Rolly Tulay), and my homies at the UAAP/NCAA Press Corps for their support!


Ritchie Gannaban and Belay Fernando are helping out too!