There’s a determined group of young professionals out to make a push for Philippine football and it appears they’re on track to give the world’s most popular sport a shot in the arm.
The consensus is Philippine football is dying because of lack of vision and direction from the Philippine Football Federation, the POC-accredited NSA governing the sport. While football is widely played at the school level, crack players aren’t enticed to continue playing beyond graduation because there isn’t a strong “premier” league to participate in.
Now comes the so-called Football Alliance which is affiliated with the United Football Cup Association (UFCA), a regular member of the NCR Football Association that is the PFF’s conscience bloc. The UFCA is behind the United Football League (UFL) which has nine teams and is on its eighth season. The Alliance hopes to take the UFL to the next level by organizing a full season’s schedule starting with The Cup from October to December, moving to The League from January to May and ending with The Invitationals in June.
The Alliance will name its league La Copa Filipina with four cornerstones – a corporate series for commercial support, a youth summer camp, a serious presence in media and a dedicated promotion of merchandise.
The Alliance is led by what I call the Magnificent 7 – a team of young executives who share a passion for football. The group is made up of LBC CEO Santi Araneta, 2GO SVP and COO Mike Camahort, Magma Inflatables president and CEO Antonio Longa, Mutual Fund Management Corp. president Philip Hagedorn, ATR Kim Eng chairman and president Lorenzo Roxas, Orient Freight president and CEO Monchu Garcia and LBC marketing director Javy Mantecon.
Together, the Magnificent 7 is looking to restore football’s once lofty standing as a significant sport in the country.
Mantecon said the program is doable. For the first tournament, 16 clubs will be tapped to play 38 matches. The teams are Manila Nomads, Union Football Club, Loyola Football Club, Air Force, Navy, Army, Alabang Grins Football Club, Laos Football Club, MPL Football Club, Kaya Football Club, Mama Africa Football Club, Sunken Garden Football Club, Baguio Football Club, Manila All-Japan Football Club, Lions Football Club and Inter-Manila Football Club.
The roster of members makes for a multi-national character and over 400 players will be enlisted. Venues will be the Rizal Memorial, Ateneo football field, Nomads and the Philippine Army field in Taguig.
More :
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=508147&publicationSubCategoryId=69
Showing posts with label Football Alliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Football Alliance. Show all posts
24 September 2009
21 September 2009
United Football League
“Football can be run as a successful business model, if you have a plan,” adds fellow trustee Santiago Araneta of the sponsoring LBC Express, Inc. “What is important is we do things one step at a time, and eventually, we’ll get there.
What FA has done is to partner with the United Football Club Association (UFCA) to put together a long-term business plan for the sport. The existing teams of the United Football League will each get corporate sponsors, either their own or enlisted by FA, to ensure the viability of each squad.
“As of now, we still have no way of determining which teams should be ranked where,” adds Philip Hagedorn of FA. “So we will have an initial competition to be able to rate everybody, and take it from there.”
The initial tournament will have 16 teams from the Armed Forces, schools and clubs, as well as teams of expats in the Philippines.
Players will receive the same allowances, and uniforms designed by Rudy Project, which will hopefully give their merchandising efforts some impetus. The United Football Cup will run from October to December, and will essentially determine the rankings, and which teams play in Division I and which teams play in Division II.
Relegation and promotion will be incorporated into the format to make things interesting.
The main tournament, the United Football League, will stretch from January to May. And the United Football Invitational, which will include a handful of teams from neighboring countries, will also be held in May. The FA believes it doesn’t make sense to be playing during rainy season.
“We actually have everything in place,” Mantecon continues. “We have the teams who are excited to play, the sponsors who have been very helpful, and even the print media, who are truly interested. We’ve even negotiated with SM to put up a pitch for us near Mall of Asia.
All we need now is to get people to watch the games.”
The FA has taken every step to professionalize the sport. What they need now is a snowball of public awareness to make sure the sport grows properly.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=507229&publicationSubCategoryId=69
Comment : Is this a new Manila league , and who is behind FA (Football Alliance) ? Is this league supported by PFF or NCR ?
What FA has done is to partner with the United Football Club Association (UFCA) to put together a long-term business plan for the sport. The existing teams of the United Football League will each get corporate sponsors, either their own or enlisted by FA, to ensure the viability of each squad.
“As of now, we still have no way of determining which teams should be ranked where,” adds Philip Hagedorn of FA. “So we will have an initial competition to be able to rate everybody, and take it from there.”
The initial tournament will have 16 teams from the Armed Forces, schools and clubs, as well as teams of expats in the Philippines.
Players will receive the same allowances, and uniforms designed by Rudy Project, which will hopefully give their merchandising efforts some impetus. The United Football Cup will run from October to December, and will essentially determine the rankings, and which teams play in Division I and which teams play in Division II.
Relegation and promotion will be incorporated into the format to make things interesting.
The main tournament, the United Football League, will stretch from January to May. And the United Football Invitational, which will include a handful of teams from neighboring countries, will also be held in May. The FA believes it doesn’t make sense to be playing during rainy season.
“We actually have everything in place,” Mantecon continues. “We have the teams who are excited to play, the sponsors who have been very helpful, and even the print media, who are truly interested. We’ve even negotiated with SM to put up a pitch for us near Mall of Asia.
All we need now is to get people to watch the games.”
The FA has taken every step to professionalize the sport. What they need now is a snowball of public awareness to make sure the sport grows properly.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=507229&publicationSubCategoryId=69
Comment : Is this a new Manila league , and who is behind FA (Football Alliance) ? Is this league supported by PFF or NCR ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
