Central Visayas secondary football team recruited by UAAP, NCAA schools

ANTIQUE, Philippines – In the first game of the football secondary tournament quarterfinals, Central Visayas gave their all-out performance in hopes of advancing in the Palarong Pambansa 2017 finals.

But the persistent Calabarzon squad hindered Central Visayas from moving forward when they prevailed in the penalty shootout, 5-4, Friday, April 28, at the Binirayan Sports Complex Football Pitch.

“We had a good game and the momentum was with us,” said coach Glen Ramos. “But I think this (game) isn’t just for us.”

Central Visayas might have bid goodbye to their Palaro 2017 stint but their future is bright as majority of the boys from Region 7 are being recruited by renowned colleges and universities in Manila.

The country’s bests

“Four of my forwards who played last year and could’ve played this Palaro are already in Manila playing for Letran,” Ramos said. “It also affected our performance this year.”

Former National Junior Team goalkeeper Jessie Semblante was also part of the Central Visayas lineup last Palarong Pambansa but was recruited by San Beda College-Taytay.

Semblante is now the goalie of Calabarzon, which is represented by San Beda College-Taytay, who will have chance to enter the championship round.

“I lose players playing for the region every year so this is not new to me,” shared Ramos. “But the main goal is for the boys to go to play and study in Manila.”

The 18-year old Glen Thomas Ramos, son of the coach, is being invited to play for De La Salle Zobel and Kaya Football Club.

“I feel happy that I get to be noticed by schools and professional clubs,” said the midfielder Glen Thomas. “This gives me a chance not only to play football but also have a scholarship and study which is helpful.”

Handpicked

Since Central Visayas has already established a strong and competent team, an anonymous school in Manila is highly interested in taking the team as a whole that includes all players and Ramos himself.

For now, Ramos declines to give comments regarding the “package” recruitment but confirms that it’s possible to happen.

There also have been various offers from NCAA and UAAP schools like University of the Philippines, National University, San Beda College, De La Salle Zobel and Far Eastern University to get some of their players.

Scouting coach Stephen Permanes is eyeing 5 booters from Central Visayas alone and offering them to play for UP but is having issues due the K-12 Program.

“We need to wait for one or two more years for them to play in the UAAP since Grade 12 is just about to launch its first batch this year,” said Permanes in an exclusive interview with Rappler. “A lot of schools not only UP is dealing with this. Hopefully, we could still make it work.”

More to this, coach Ramos confirms he will be holding 7 players in the team for now as their parents disapproved of them leaving their respective provinces.

“They need to finish Grade 12 with us first. After that, I think they could choose wherever they want to go,” said Ramos. – Rappler.com

READ: Palarong Pambansa 2017 stories by campus journalists