AGE group football in Cebu is expected to hit a high note when the 7th SunStar Football Cup kicks off on Nov. 24 and 25 at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The event will have the 10 age group divisions and the new professionals division this year. The age group divisions are the Players 6, 8 and 10, Boys 12, 14, 16 and 18 and the Girls 14, 16 and 18.
Some 42 coaches attended the coaches meeting for the event yesterday at the St. Mark’s Hotel to discuss the ground rules and some modifications for the tournament.
One of the suggestions coach Mario Ceniza of Paref-Springdale raised was to follow the Fifa rules regarding backpasses to a keeper, instead of disallowing it. He also suggested to use throw-ins instead of kick-ins for all divisions.
“This will help in the development of the kids,” he said.
Aside from Springdale, the other teams expected to join the tournament are powerhouse Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC), Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, University of San Carlos-Basic Education Department, City Central School, Cebu International School, Center for International Education, St. Theresa’s College. Teams from outside Cebu and those from the provinces have also expressed interest to join the tournament, which is Cebu’s biggest football festival in the latter half of the football calendar.
DBTC, which won six titles last year, is fielding 28 teams this year, including six in the Players 8 division and five in the Boys 14 division.
Meanwhile, the tournament will have a new division this year. The Professionals divisions can be workers for the same company for at least three months or must belong to the same professions. Among the first to sign up were a team of architects and a team from Accenture.
The registration fee for the tournament is P1,500 for Oct. 15 to 19, P2,000 for Oct. 22 to 25, P2,500 for Oct. 29 to 31. (ML)