FUTSAL TOURNEY. Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran (seated, 2nd from right) with (seated, from left) referee inspector Montano Mondia III, match commissioner Dennis Estaniel, and tournament manager Emil Goto, and coaches of participating teams, during the press conference for the 1st Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran Futsal Festival on Thursday. (PNA photo by Nanette L. Guadalquiver)
BACOLOD CITY -- A total of 29 school-based teams will see action in the two-day 1st Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran Futsal Festival at the Bacolod City National High School Gymnasium this weekend.
The sports event, which will run from Saturday to Sunday, is being organized by the Office of the Vice Mayor - in partnership with the Department of Education Division of Bacolod.
“It is an exciting game. Our purpose is to scout for talents and hone the skills of the players for future national and international competitions,” Familiaran said in a press conference on Thursday.
Futsal is an indoor football game played between two teams with five players each, including the goalkeeper. For this tournament, which has four categories, each match will be played for a duration of 15 minutes.
The teams will come from 20 public and nine private elementary and high schools in Bacolod, the capital city of Negros Occidental considered as a breeding ground of the country’s top football talents.
In the Under 13 Boys, squads include Education and Training Center School (ETCS)-I, Rizal Elementary School, University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos (UNO-R) Rams, Montevista Elementary School, Mabini Elementary School, R.A. Medel Sr. Elementary School, St. John’s Institute (SJI), Universal FC, and Bata Elementary School-II.
Competing in the Under 17 Boys are Handumanan National High School, M.G. Medalla Integrated School, Bacolod City National High School (BCNHS), and STI-West Negros University.
In the Under 17 Girls, teams are BCNHS, UNO-R, SJI, Sum-ag National School, Ronnin Hiyas United FC, Bata National High School (BNHS) Tigers FC, Negros Occidental High School (NOHS) Panthers FC, and Trinity Christian School.
The teams in the Ladies Open are UNO-R Rams, NOHS Panthers FC, BCNHS, BNHS Tigers FC, University of St. La Salle FC, Futsgal La Salle, St. Scholastica’s Academy FC, and M.G. Medalla IS.
Match commissioner Dennis Estaniel said they aim to produce futsal players who can play in such high-level competitions as the Palarong Pambansa and also represent Bacolod in the Batang Pinoy games.
Joining Estaniel as event officials are tournament manager Emil Goto and referee inspector Montano Mondia III.
The tournament is being held in cooperation with the Office of the Mayor, the Office of the Lone District Representative of Bacolod and Campuestohan Highland Resort. It is being sponsored by Portia Store. (PNA)
