Just this morning during the family day, I bumped into Mr. Santos, the dad of Leon Santos of boys born 1993. He greeted me and then said, “Ang lakas na ng highschool team ha.” I agreed with him telling him that the return of Pea and the addition of some new players will make the aspirants team a contender for the championship. I also told him that the most important thing that is happening this year is that most of the players are training regularly.
Coach Sugar and I discuss the status of our teams almost everyday when we meet. Sometimes, T. Emma and T. Ana would leave the dining and find their own spot in the house to discuss something else cause we would go on and on talking about hedcen football the whole evening. So far, everything looks good with the Aspirants team. Renee, Ryan, Zach, Sam, and other highschoolers are training continuously. Along with that, our new players, Eric, Pea, Nino, Shane, and Kevin have been performing well during training with our old students. Calvin, Leon, and Martin are starting to practice including some born 1994 players.
So far, we’ve agreed on a 3-5-1 formation with Sam Vitug as the starting goalkeeper. He will be replaced by Kevin Benjamin if the team needs size on the field. The three defenders will be Zach, Ryan, and maybe Emilio Tan. The wingers will be Kevin and Eric Fernandez while the midfielders will be Nino Muros, Pea Gomez, and Shane. Renee Esguerra will be the team’s only striker. The strength of the team will be rooted in the center midfield area where the Redwoods have the advantage in skill, strength, size, and agility. If the opponents outnumber our center halfbacks, Renee and Eric will be free to push the ball up and even score. At this point though, there is need for much improvement on the left side of last 3rd (defenders). Emilio was absent for this year’s summer training but I am confident that he will be mentally and physically fit to play defense by August. Another concern is our right winger. Kevin can kick but we need to develop his endurance so he can run the ball up the field before crossing. It would also be a big lift for the team if Renee and Eric could further improve their timing and 1 v 1 skills. I am happy that Renee has shown a lot of maturity regarding his attitude this past month with regards to attendance in practice and performance in the summer games. His team will count on him to be stable in the RIFA tournament. Coach Sugar agreed that he is a key component to the team’s success.
There won’t be classes on Monday so I decided to give all athletes a long break. We will resume practice on Tuesday and we will train hard.