11 August 2007, Manila, Philippines. A week following their return from Norway, RIFA Philippines held a Victory Party at the Ayala Alabang Country Club. The girls and their families, with some special guests, had a blast celebrating the team’s wonderful Dana and Norway Cups performance.

Highlights of the Victory Party included a Thanksgiving Mass, the yummy merienda buffet with churros con chocolate, dinuguan at puto, taquitos and assorted kakanin, inspirational talks by Mr. Pablito Araneta of the Philippine Football Federation and Marielle Benitez of the RP Women’s Team, a hit video presentation of the girls’ Dana and Norway Cups photos by Ginny Gonzalez, the awarding of trophies and medals to the team, and the signing of souvenir photos by the girls.

We kept our vigil on how our RIFA Philippines daughters performed in the recently-concluded Dana and Norway Cups via a strangely wonderful combination of SMS, chat, email, online results verification of tournament websites, and blogging.

Here’s what we did: Soccer mom Mallotte (who accompanied the team) texted hubby Eric the result seconds after the final whistle of each game. In turn, Eric immediately forwarded the text to Statsman Vita and HEdCen co-parent Maxx (the only RIFA parents whose cellphone numbers he had) and relayed the news to the rest of the team’s parents by e-mail.

Our Statsman Vita, ever the sigurista, then waited an hour or two to confirm the win/draw/loss from the Results Page of the tournament’s website, as well as to check on how the other teams in the group fared. Meanwhile, accidental blogger Eric would prepare the news update for posting on the Team Blog, based on the details Mallotte supplied by text/chat/email, e.g., the final score, who made the goals, and the name of the opposing team.

Vita would then email the parents confirming the result as well as mentioning other statistics (such as the outcomes of the other matches in the group with a comparative summary table to boot, and the team’s next scheduled game) and offering his analysis of the data he gathered. Subsequent blog updates culled excerpts from or reproduced in full the Statsman’s facts and insights. Other parents responded with their own emails reacting to the latest news and adding prayers for the girls. From time to time, Eric would upload to the Team Blog photos emailed by Mallotte, so we all could see those cherished faces we missed so much.

And that’s how we survived the agony of separation and celebrated the sweetness of the girls’ success halfway around the … Globe … with the help of … Smart … technology, across the vast … Broadband … of cyberspace. (Uhmm, paging Pol and Jack of the 2008 Fund-Raising Committee, here’s your cue as to some of our potential sponsors … )

(Reproduced below is the news article summarizing the achievements of our team in the 2007 editions of the Dana and Norway Cups.)

05 August 2007, Manila, Philippines. The Rizal Football Association (RIFA) Philippines Girls Under-13 Football Team returned to Manila today after an outstanding showing on the European youth soccer tour. It surpassed all expectations as the lone Southeast Asian participant in the Dana Cup in Denmark, which was held from 23 July to 28 July 2007, finishing third in the Group B Division. It also competed as the youngest team and sole Southeast Asian entrant in the 29 July to 04 August 2007 edition of the Norway Cup in Oslo, Norway, making it to the Quarterfinals in the Group B Division.

The team is composed of students from RIFA member-schools PAREF Woodrose School, HEdCen (Holistic Education and Development Center), Miriam College, and Colegio de San Agustin. This was the first time that players from different schools participated in the Dana and Norway Cups, two of the biggest international tournaments in youth soccer.

RIFA Board member and treasurer Emma Fernandez and Coach Potenciano Fernandez, who handled the RIFA selection, led the contingent. Before the team’s departure last month, Mrs. Fernandez said that RIFA believes that our young Pinay football players can shine in these international football tournaments. “These girls are only 13 years old but they have the talent, skills and technique and are determined to be competitive. Of course, an added incentive for them is getting to wear the Philippine team colors for the first time.” Coach Potenciano Fernandez added that exposing the team to the experience of playing in international competitions would help our girls become world-class players and spread the popularity of the sport in the Philippines.

RIFA Philippines Girls U-13 Team’s preparation spanned a 6-month period and included joining local tournaments such as the 2007 Barotac Nuevo and Santa Barbara Football Festivals in Iloilo, where they went up against older and stronger opponents in the open division groups. The team finished 1st runner-up in the 7-a-side Under 17 years old category in the RIFA Summer Football League last 17th of May, came in third in the Generals Cup in Villamor Airbase Protacio Field held on the 23rd of June 2007, and topped their division as champions in the Milo Cup at Fort Bonifacio Field ASCOM on 26 May 2007.

At the Dana Cup in Hjørring, Denmark, the team competed in the G13 division mostly made up of teams coming from Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Germany. After a draw in their opener and a demoralizing 0-6 defeat in their second game, RIFA Philippines Girls U-13 found their bearings and with ace strikers Aira dela Cruz and Marsha Nackaerts blasting away, racked up a string of four consecutive wins. However, their dream run ended as they lost, 1-3, to eventual champion Horsens FC 2 in the Group B semifinals, with striker Marsha Nackaerts netting the lone goal for the team, a fantastic long shot from mid-field.

Despite not making it to the finals, RIFA Philippines exited the Dana Cup with a surprisingly impressive record. The only Southeast Asian contestant in the Girls U-13 Group dominated by Scandinavian FCs finished a very respectable 7th out of 31 teams.

The girls performed admirably as well in the Norway Cup in Oslo, the largest international youth soccer competition in the world. RIFA Philippines joined the event as the youngest of 77 teams and sole Southeast Asian participant in the 7 a-side competition for girls 14 years old and younger. Against overwhelming odds and physically stronger and heftier opponents, it reached the quarterfinals stage and eventually placed 5th in the Group B division of the tournament, with the overachieving Philippine girls bowing out only after a closely-fought down-the-wire match against Gurskøy COOP, losing 1-2 at the very last minute of extra time on Gurskøy COOP’s golden goal.

The twelve members of the team are: Pat Depante (Team Captain and right striker, Woodrose), Aira dela Cruz (left striker, Woodrose), Nikki de Leon (defender, CSA), Ynez Gonzalez (midfielder, Woodrose), Fil-Korean Sun Mi Hwang (striker, Miriam College), Miela Lilles (midfielder, Woodrose), Belgian-Filipino Marsha Catandijan-Nackaerts (striker, HEdCen), Angela Nguyen (2nd goalkeeper, Woodrose), Inna Palacios (1st goalkeeper, CSA), Camille Rodriguez (midfielder, Miriam College), Riana Santos (defender, HEdCen), and Sofia Sazon (defender, Woodrose). They were accompanied by soccer moms Mallotte Santos and Margie Sazon.

You can check out the RIFA Philippines Girls U-13 Team’s online blog of its amazing campaigns in the Dana and Norway Cups at http://hedcen.com/dana-team/.

At our Statsman’s request, Pinoysoccer.com, the definitive (and only organized) website related to Philippine football news and other football-related news worldwide, has posted a news article (with photo) entitled RIFA Girls U-13 Performance in Dana and Norway Cups. Our warmest thanks to Mr. Alain Escalante, Pinoysoccer.com’s web administrator, who might have one of his columnists write about the team’s adventures soon.

It’s Change the Caption time once more!

What’s your take on what Pat might be saying?