NFL 2012 Season opens January 29

By Henry G. Doble

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

THE North Football League (NFL) 2012 Season is set to kick off on January 29 at the Ayala North Point football pitch in the Talisay City, Negros Occidental.

Tournament commissioner Ramon Janeo said that the schedule of tournament’s opening is set on this date to give way for the 1st Negros First Men's Football Championships finals which was played January 21.

Janeo added that NFL will keep the six teams intact with the defending champion Ceres Transport FC, 1strunner-up Dynamic Builders FC, 2nd runner-up Talisay-Minuluan FC, 3rd runner-up Trimaxi-Agro FC, Real Negrense FC and the Las Buenas FC.

Dynamic Builders is expected to come out strong to avenge its 2-1 loss in last year’s 3rd Conference finals against the Ceres Transport. The Transporters’ win foiled the Builders grand slam bid in that tournament.

On the proposed banning of players seeing action in the United Football League as well as current university players, Janeo stressed that the suggestion to ban UFL standouts in this league was disapproved. In short, these players who likewise suite up in different teams in the UFL remain in their respective rosters and kept by team owners.

The tournament official, however, disclosed that, unlike the UFL players, current universities and collegiate mainstays are disallowed to join the league.

Among those players who are playing in the NFL as well as in the mentioned leagues are Trimaxi’s FJ Serious (Pachanga FC/UFL) and Dynamic FC Jason Cordova (Stallion FC/UFL), as well as newly drafted Lemuel Unabia (Green Archers United FC/UFL) and Kenneth Doloso (Pachanga FC/UFL).

Unabia is a member of the defending PFF-Suzuki Cup U23 national Cup champion Ceres-Negros U23 while Doloso is a former West Negros University standout and National Coke Go-for-Goal U16 National Finals Best Goalkeeper awardee. He was also part of the Wesnecan team which won the 2006 NOFA provincial Futsal championship at the Negros Occidental Multi-Purpose Activity Center and a former member of the U20 and U21 Philippines Men's national football team.

Schedule of games will be determined a week before the tournament. (With Scoop-Bacolod)

Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on January 25, 2012.