Under the sun’s rising heat, the intense sound of the player’s footsteps combined with powerful kicks and heavy-hitting braces continues to blast through the greenish battlefield, leaving the audience roaring in excitement.
Packed with their unstoppable offensive prowess and unyielding defense, the mighty Sagradan Football Club emerged victorious on the 5v5 football challenge held in the Montessori De Sagrada Familia park last August 12, 2023, bringing home the shimmering gold and 2 silvers.
Unlike a typical football game, a 5v5 football challenge has a limited boundary and space- only consisting of the goalkeeping area, halfway mark, and penalty mark, making this challenge more difficult and breathtaking, and requires accurate and coordinated plays in order to score.
The schools that participated in this competition consisted of the 3 powerhouse teams of Pinoy Wolves Football Club, the analytic and decisive Sunbeam Football Club, and the promising stars of Sagradan Football Club.
Additionally, this sports event consisted of different categories including Age 7 below, Age 10 below, Age 13 below, and Age 17 below, with SFC joining 7-13 categories to aim for the top spots.
Kicking things off in the Age 7 category, the playful yet flawless kicks of Franco Rafael Sabariaga lead his small but terrible team to a landslide triumph, sweeping PWFC-A with a 2-0 score gap.
Sabariaga supported his team through his striking hoofs and his stabilizing defense, contributing to the team by scoring an overall 4 points throughout the competition, letting Moises deal with the pinpoint clinical finishes.
“I’ve enrolled my son maybe 4 or 5 months ago during summer. Actually, kaya ko lang siya inenroll kasi because of the pandemic, they’ve been stuck inside for so long, so I had him try different sports. So he did taekwando, he did swimming, he did tennis, tas he did football. Tapos I made him choose which one he wanted. So pinili niya football. Kaya what’s good naman with football is talagang yung discipline niya for training, inaayos niya yung schedule niya before he goes to training. Nakatapos na siya sa mga schoolwork niya. Tapos yung simple things like siya nag-aayos ng gamit niya, siya’y nagpreprepare, siya’y nagliligpit. So ayun, parang konting training and konting discipline,” Ma’am Aissa Sabariaga, the mother of Rafael, said.
Next in line is the Age 10 category, the reckless yet superb performance of SJ, together with the timely assistance of Ellias and Lolarga, made them compete toe-to-toe with the aggressive PWFC-A.
However, despite the nonstop attacks of SFC, they fell short at the end by the unwavering defense and counterattacks of PWFC, crowning them as the 2nd place with 2 wins and 2 losses.
Moving on from the Age 13 category, the calm yet collected calculations of Angelo Miguel Yumul allowed him to set up decisive plays, enabling him to strike speedy flick-ons to break PWFC-A defense.
Despite all those offensive and defensive battles, it’s still not enough for SFC to strike down PWFC as they restricted their teamwork by bulking up the goalkeeper’s defense while channeling brute force, allowing them to outscore the Sagradans by 1-3.
Lastly, in the Age 17 category, the PWFC maintains its spotlight against the Sunbeam FC, capturing another gold to add to their collection.
All of these were hosted by Emmanuel Robles, who has been coaching for 21 years and has been playing for 31 years, making the flow of the event a smooth and successful one.
“Actually, ginagawa ko ito para maging succesful yung event, para makatulong ako kahit hindi ako talented sa pag-eMC. Ginagawa ko lang yung part ko para atleast mafacilitate yung kailangang ifacilitate during the ceremony. Tsaka pagmay laro yung mga bata, para maencourage sila,” Robles said. “Ang sports ay for everybody, for everyone. Pero much better kung nag-istart ito sa grassroots level kasi kumpara dun sa mga naging grade sa sports na medyo may edad na, iba yung level na ito na mga grassroots sila, mga bata sila at maencourage tsaka suportahan ng mga family at parents. At siguro malaking impact ito in a way na sa pag-aaral nila, nagiging balanse ang lahat, nailalayo sila sa mga bisyo, sa mga gadgets and nagiging healthy sila. ”
This event signifies the achievement of MDSF to host a sports event, serving as the stepping stone to new opportunities for the school to handle more different sports that the administration looks forward to in the future.
“Syempre proud tsaka privelege din kasi nakakatuwa dahil syempre dito sa Baliwag, diba parang kahit hindi ito yung standard na field, tayo yung talagang napili noh? And nakakatuwa kasi I believe the school is being known to be having sports integrated in the curriculum or yun nga, may mga after sports activities tayo which hindi lahat ng schools meron, so Im very, very proud,” Maria Carmela Santos-Ong, MDSF’s High School Principal said.
“Gusto ko ngang kompletuhin eh. Yes, gusto ko, actually. Maraming marami pang sports. And hopefully, sana pagpray natin lahat kasi si President din, yun din yung direction na gusto niya for the school. Maging known tayo kasi talaga naman diba, its equally important as academics. So, as we all know, ngayon, lahat ng mga tao nakagadgets, lahat ng mga bata laging plug sa technology, so gusto talaga natin mas maexpand pa like tennis, arnis, basta yung mga hindi mainstream na sports. Sana sana. And I’m sure sa pagtutulungan ng lahat ng stakeholders, mapupuntahan natin yun.”
by: Jemuel Cruz