Davao Aguilas YFL aims for grassroots growth in Visayas, Mindanao

Beatrice Go

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Davao Aguilas YFL aims for grassroots growth in Visayas, Mindanao
Aside from aiming to win the PFL, Davao Aguilas has taken its efforts to the grassroots level

MANILA, Philippines – Davao Aguilas FC formalized its partnership with Youth Football League (YFL) on Tuesday, March 20 at the Marriott Hotel.

With the ceremonial signing of sponsor Davao Aguilas FC Chairman Jefferson Cheng, YFL is now officially renamed to Davao Aguilas Youth Football League.

 


 

 

Davao Aguilas FC was founded only in early 2017 and is a participant of the Philippines Football League (PFL) in its inaugural year. The young club was expected to be one of the contenders for the PFL title especially after acquiring Azkals mainstays, Phil and James Younghusband.

However, Davao Aguilas finished 7th out of 8 at the end of the first PFL tournament, which saw the replacement of former head coach Gary Philips with Marlon Maro. 

In line with the club’s first goal of winning the PFL, Davao Aguilas aims to help develop and raise the bar of Philippine football by starting a training pool and a grassroots program in Mindanao through their partnership with YFL. 

You know considering that the club isn’t exactly a year old yet, we have a lot of expectations and we have a big role to fill in terms of elevating football within the Philippines,” said Davao Aguilas General Manager Michael Shaw. 

“We can’t really do these things alone so we, as a club, we thought that it would be a good avenue to partner up with someone like Mr. [Miguel] Atayde, Ms. Belay Fernando and other stakeholders of the YFL, who specialize with these grassroots ’cause as of right now, our focus is to win the PFL first, then we would establish that pool, but entering this endeavor, it allows us to do both at once.” 

Together with the stakeholders of YFL, Davao Aguilas envisions a nation-wide youth football tournament where clubs from Visayas and Mindanao are properfy represented. 

“We want to create first hype and the tournament setting here, establish pools in Visayas and Mindanao and create a tournament that can either be centralized in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao or it could rotate so that everyone gets a chance, everyone gets the same amount of exposure and it’s a win-win choice for everybody,” said Shaw. 

Being the sole representive of Mindanao in the PFL, Davao Aguilas looks to pioneer their own youth football program – complete with training and hosting of tournaments in Mindanao – starting the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2018.  

“Though these endeavors are great in Luzon, like I said earlier, it has to trickle down to Visayas, and most importantly, Mindanao. And ultimately, we’ll get the framework from YFL, partnership with Mr. Atayde, and look to bring it to Davao.” 

As the Davao club is stacked with high-caliber players such as the Younghusbands, Matthew Hartmann, Dennis Villanueva, Dylan de Bruycker to name a few, Davao Aguilas looks to also produce young Filipino players who will be able to reach their level of play and ascend to the international level as well. 

“Our main objective is to synergize, to create that professional environment that we believe that football should have here, and we bring those winning traits back into the rest of the world through the AFC, through the Azkals, through qualifying for multiple tournaments.” 

The Davao Aguilas YFL will begin on Sunday, April 8 at the Alabang Country Club. – Rappler.com

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Beatrice Go

More commonly known as Bee, Beatrice Go is a multimedia sports reporter for Rappler, who covers Philippine sports governance, national teams, football, and the UAAP. Stay tuned for her news and features on Philippine sports and videos like the Rappler Athlete’s Corner and Rappler Sports Timeout.