THIS Saturday, the Central Visayas Footbal Association (CVFA) team takes on the visiting Negros Occidental Football Association (Nofa) in its first home game for the Philippine Football Federation U15 championships.

Culled from players from the various schools and clubs, the CVFA will be tested to the limit by Bacolod-based Nofa, which has a vaunted grassroots program started a few years ago that could see the FA dominate Philippine football in a few years.

This new tournament addresses the lack of a national competition for this age group and the PFF is hoping the event, which also has regional home and away competitions in Luzon and Mindanao, keep the boys competitive. The U12s and U18s have the Palarong Pambansa; the U15s have nothing.

And we all know that internationally, the Philippines seems to nosedive in terms of quality players between the U12s and the U18s.

I remember during one assessment, our U12s were said to be competitive in the Asean region, while our older age group teams have been left behind. And it’s true, especially in the girls team. We’ve made the podium in the Asean U14 championships, while we’ve had our lunch, breakfast, dinner, snacks and pasalubongs handed to us in the U18s, U19s in the form of blowout losses.

So I’m very hopeful of this Boys 15 tournament, since it follows a home-and-away format and allows FAs to create a 40-man pool. Why so many players? It runs for months and inevitably will be in conflict with local tournaments, so player availability will be a crucial factor to Central Visayas success.

I’m also hopeful that the Boys 15 tournament won’t be a one and done thing and will be an annual event. Heck, I’m hoping we won’t be calling it the PFF Boys 15 next month.

In the late ‘90s, when you said Coke and football, it meant the U16 and when you said Adidas and football, it meant the U19. I hope that by next year, a brave company will step in and bankroll the tournament.

To get there, we can do our share by making sure we’ll be at the sidelines when the CVFA hosts Nofa. I mean, a potential sponsor that sees a great crowd will be more inclined to loosen his wallet, right?

So, let’s go, Central Visayas.