USPF FC’s run

THE University of Southern Philippines Foundation Football Club only had a couple of practice sessions under their belt before the local eliminations of the Allianz national futsal tournament last month.

Their practice, or scrimmage to be exact, was just to let them get the feel of playing futsal. Though they’ve had ample experience on the field, they’ve had less in playing futsal, and that was when they were with other teams.

Still, despite the short preparation, the team of Eleazer Toledo and Sheeba Castañares made it all the way to the final where they defeated the Guardian Strikers, 3-2, to earn the right to represent Cebu in the regional finals.

It was then that coach Toledo, who also handles the collegiate team of USPF, said he was going to put up a more rigid futsal program for the girls, whom he is hoping will form the school’s Cesafi futsal team should USPF decide to form one.

And if the school has any doubt of the viability of starting a girls football program, then this bunch of girls are proof that starting one will be good for the school’s image.

Consider their string of victories, three in a span of two months. After winning the local futsal eliminations, USPF travelled to Bacolod City to join the prestigious Ceres Cup, a field event that is joined by some of the best teams in the country.

USPF FC added title No. 2 in their mini-streak, showing that they aren’t only a threat in futsal but in the field as well. Winning mini-tournaments isn’t new to this bunch as most learned to play under Giuseppe and have won a lot of titles for Giuseppe before joining USPFC.

A week later, they returned to the City of Smiles, but donning their futsal shoes instead of their spikes for the Allianz Futsal Tournament regional elimination and after two days of action, USPFC have title No. 3 after blanking Nosirfa, 2-0, in the Girls 13 finals.

Mind you, this is the regional eliminations, meaning they were facing the champions from the other local eliminations in the Visayas and as a testament to how difficult that was, USPF FC was the only team from Cebu to survive the regional eliminations and to earn the right to represent the region in the national finals in Laguna.

This is of course, not to say that USPF FC is the next big thing in Cebu girls futsal considering that we also the St. Theresa’s College and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, who have competed in the Palarong Pambansa. I’m just highlighting their achievement since USPF will be a welcome addition to the girls futsal scene in the Cesafi and the Cebu City Olympics tournaments.

It’s not a guarantee of course that they’re going to Cesafi futsal title, since this Girls 13 team will be three or four years younger than the Cesafi and City Olympics age group. But if this Girls 13 players will be competing against girls older than them in both the Cesafi and City Olympics, that would bode well for them and in two years’ time or three, I think they’d be one of the teams to beat in both tournaments.

But of course, that’s going to depend on what USPF would do, but if I were the school admin and considering that these girls advance to the national finals in their first try, I’d sign them up.