HEdCen won against Xavier 8-0.

We played 3 games today at different divisions. We lost all three of them. Our midgets A lost to Ateneo 2-1, the aspirants boys team lost 1-0 to Ateneo, and Cuenca beat our girls all-highschool 2-1.

This is definitely not one of the brightest days for me and the HEdCenites who played but this is an experience for us to learn from. We lost these games but we know we can do something about our mistakes. There will be tactical adjustments for the future games and we will focus on some key factors and weaknesses in training.

I will try to meet the teams regarding the previous games and discuss what we should work on. I really just hope everyone trains regularly this week.

HEdCen did great last weekend in the RIFA games.

Last Saturday, our boys 96 team A struggled with the small field but ended up with only 1 draw and 4 wins. I think they’re currently the top team with 13 points.

Team B suffered 3 defeats, 1 draw, but won 2 games. They are still very much in contention to reach the top 8 for the quarterfinals. I think the team is just adjusting and will do much better in the next eliminations round this Sept 15.

I think Redwoods boys 98 team won 4 games and lost 1 game only. I saw that game were they lost to DBTI. Its ok. It just shows that we need to focus some more but evidently we were the stronger team. All teams can lose but a loss is a loss. I think we still ended up the top in this division.

Boys 2000 suffered 2 defeats and 1 draw. I don’t know how many games they won. I’ll post the results tomorrow after I get more information from the other coaches. Still, we’re the only team that spreads the game through passing. It was difficult to execute the play though due to the mud. With the way were going, a few adjustments in practice should get this team ready for the championship round.

In the afternoon, HEdCen girls 94-95, 96-98 (Team A for 96 division), and 99-00 (Team B for 96 division) played in CSA after the boys games.

Girls 94-95 won 5 and lost 1 game to Miriam. I’m not sure if Miriam topped this group after the first round. This team needs to get ready for Miriam next round. They’ve gotten better.

Girls 96 Team A won all their games except for 1 draw and Team B played very well against girls 3 - 5 years older than them. Angel Blanco of Team B even scored a goal that got everybody up on their feet, giving the teeny weeny kids the much deserved applause. This will be their training for the tournaments in the years to come when other teams are capable of assembling a team to compete in their age group.

Yesterday, Sept 2, Redwoods Aspirants pulverized San Beda 17-0. On Sept 8, they will face Ateneo who beat Marist 13-0. The toughness of both teams will be tested on Saturday. Aspirants must jog 20 minutes on Wednesday after the exams and train on Thursday for the Saturday game against Ateneo.

Our Girls Aspirants team showed their great improvement after defeating CSA Makati 1-0 and CSA Binan 4-1 in CSA grounds. Despite having no substitutes, all girls played very well and stepped-up their game compared to their performance last year. This team is much better now though there is still a lot of room for improvement. We need to keep getting better for the future.

To all HEdCen footballers regarding this week’s games,

Almost all our teams will be playing on Saturday or Sunday or both. Its been a while since we’ve competed against other schools. Some of our teams started playing last week and they did very well. I am so proud of our HEdCen football teams not because we won games last week but because of how we played. That’s what I tell all my students, its not the result, its the way you play. It doesn’t matter if you win, lose, win by 1 goal or more. Playing competitive football is all about expressing yourself on the field, being creative, being the best you can be at every second of the game. Its more than individual play. Its a team game and it requires everyone to give nothing less than his best. When we play our games, it is our chance to show our quality not just as skilled athletes but as human beings who encourage each other in our hard times on the field. It is a venue for developing leadership, teamwork, and discipline. This is where we show our respect and appreciation for our rivals for they help us become better people in and out of the field by testing our character. We will aim for nothing less than a win in each game but bearing in mind that we can lose. No matter what, we will accept whatever the result of the game might be and learn from every experience, not just from losing but even from winning.

I am happy and excited for our teams on Saturday and Sunday not because I expect us to win but because we have worked so hard this summer until today to develop ourselves in football. We’ve done everything we could think of just to be better everyday. We did it and its time to share what we have. I am excited with how we are going to play. For most of my time in the games, I do not intend to coach and shout instructions from the sidelines. You guys know what to do. You have been trained to make decisions so learn how to look for strength from within yourself in times of doubt. Nevertheless, the coaches will be there to support and encourage you because we know you can do it, you are a HEdCenite, a fighter, no matter how slim the chances may be. We push ourselves and give it everything in and out of the field. It is not the result, IT IS HOW WE PLAY IT that defines us.

All who will play on Saturday will rest tomorrow, and the rest are encouraged to train tomorrow.

Please study hard for the exams next week. Again, we are student-athletes, that is what makes us special. We do well in class and on the field. The standard is excellence. Nothing less than that.

I have work to do just like everybody else so goodluck on Saturday and Sunday. We will see each other in the games.

We played futsal in Club 650 last night and the HEdCen players present there were Zach, Wacky, Junichi, Sam, and Pea. At first I thought our team wasn’t tough enough to win games against the veterans but we won the first game 3-0. Zach was forced to play the left wing while Wacky Torres took on a defensive role. I played right wing and Pea was our point man. We lost the following game 3-2 but we didn’t play bad at all. What I regret about yesterday was a series of unfortunate events that lead to injuries on both our goalies, Sam and Junichi. They sprained their fingers blocking powerful shots from the veterans. Also, Reginald strained his right knee after going for the ball against Anto Gonzalez, former UP midfielder and National team player. He had to be replaced and I didn’t allow Pea to play anymore. He claims he can play on the game against San Beda this Sunday but we’ll see about that on Sunday when we play San Beda. Well, despite the injuries, it was a very good experience for the students to have played again with the veterans. Wacky, Junichi, and Zach did very well as field players.

I was also happy with my performance as a player yesterday. Hehe. But I couldn’t last long and acquired cramps after a couple of games. That was it for me.

I am very pleased with result of our game against Miriam. I wasn’t there to watch because we had Saturday classes in HEdCen. Coach Sugar told me that our girls were very good except that they were clearly out-of-shape. I am quite happy we won but I would enjoy the girl’s victory if I felt we really prepared for it. I know I sound like a kill-joy but the girls have to understand that it will take more than the skills they have and a couple of dedicated players to win the championship. Everyone on the team has to be in shape. Everyone should train consistently and be ready. Once a week training in varsity or in Marikina is not enough. We might not get lucky next time. I’m glad for the girls’ accomplishment but lets not get too comfortable. It’s still a long way to the championship…We need to prepare.

Yesterday, Coach Bernard was unavailable to join us for futsal training; nevertheless, I had a good number of students who played in Libis. I was delighted to have 7 highschoolers join the activity. These kids were Shane, Nino, Pea, Junichi, Sam, Zach, and Kevin.

When we arrived in Club 650, I thought that my friends cancelled the game because we arrived at 8:45 due to heavy traffic and the lights on the court were still out. I thought the games should’ve started at 8:30 and expected to see many players. There was no one there except us. So I asked the management about reservations for the court and learned the games were moved from 9-11PM.

At about 9:15PM there were enough veteran players on the court to challenge the HEdCen team. We implemented a diamond formation unlike previous 5-a-side games where we used a square shaped formation. I did this adjustment so that the wingers would feel more confident running the left and right lanes on counterattacks. I didn’t have to worry much about defense because I trusted the kids would return back to defensive formation right away after our attacks. I started as the forward. The wingers were Pea and Shane while Nino was the last man. Junichi was our goalie.

Our first game was a draw. We should’ve won that game but I missed a couple of clear attempts to the goal. I sort of felt bad I missed those shots cause the highschoolers pressed the veterans very well that I got a lot of loose balls for the counterattack. I don’t remember if it was Pea or Shane who scored for us but we scored first.

I was so tired after the first game because of our fast play. I couldn’t keep up with the pace of the kids. Besides having colds, either I was in terrible shape or I’m getting old to play at a fast pace. I think its the latter but I hope not. Anyway, I reminded the boys to dictate the pace of the game, to do things fast, to force errors on the opposition and to counterattack without hesitation. That was their game. When Coach Bernard and I play with the highschoolers, we have a tendency to slow things down because we couldn’t cope with the fast pace. I told myself that if I were playing with these boys, I’m going to have to keep running. That’s what we all did and we did great.

In the next game, I rested Pea and Junichi. Zach started as the last man, and the wingers were Nino and Shane. Again, I played as the striker but stayed on the court for only 4-5 minutes because I was exhausted. I let Pea take over. From that point onwards, The highschoolers were on their own. I had always imagined a couple of young lads getting beaten up and humiliated by much more experienced senior team so I thought that the coaches must always be with the boys to neutralize the size, strength, and skill of the seniors. On the other hand, there was a part of me that thought the kids are good and they can do it on their own. If not, this would be a good experience and challenge to them. Well, I guess I just had to see for myself the result of letting them play without a coach - NOT BAD…Not bad at all was what I told myself after they won the game.

I knew they could do it. Zach did very well at the back. If I had any doubts on Zach’s ability to defend and to initiate plays or counterattacks from backcourt, they have been greatly reduced. Of course, there is always room for improvement but Zach did very well. Nino and Shane ran the lanes in every transition of the game. Pea got the other veterans watching to applaude after finishing plays with goals on well-placed shots. I noticed he’d only use his left and thought that if only his right foot felt better, Pea would be unstoppable.

We had a couple more games after. We won some. We lost some. Again, its not really the result of each match I’m concerned with. It’s the exposure they get in playing with very skillful players, guys who’ve had so much more experience playing at a higher level of competition. It’s the confidence they get from being tested with a bigger task, with a more difficult obstacle. These are experiences our players will need to become better, and we can no longer provide in our own grounds.

I’m sure Sam’s become tougher after his experience playing for one of the teams that asked for his goal-keeping services in a game between former La Salle and UP players. He played for the La Salle team and actually won the game for them after saving about 8 to 10 open shots by the Maroons. I could tell my former teammates were frustrated after each save Sam made. Now, Mr. Vitug can always look back to that game as concrete evidence to his potential as a very good goalie. The next step would be consistency.

Hopefully, Jomar, Wacky, Renee, and Eric would be able to join us next futsal. This will be a good experience for them.

One more thing…Earlier, I was hesitant to bring students to the games because I was conscious that the veterans would feel there was no challenge playing highschoolers. Now, we all know its nothing like that…hehe…I love coaching…

For the first time, I let the highschoolers play the veterans on their own without me or Coach Bernard. And they played well. They won games and they really impressed the veterans. I’ll write more details about the game including my analysis on their performance next time. Those who played were the following:
1. Nino Muros
2. Reginald Gomez
3. Junichi Saliba
4. Shane
5. Sam Vitug
6. Zach Riskin

I had just taken a bath and I can still remember the very recent pain I felt from my bruises as I poured cold water over my body. Along with the pain were flashes of what had happened in our practice this afternoon in Marikina.

Many kids trained today. In fact, Mang Almer’s service was not enough to carry all the kids to Marikina. We had to call Mang Elmer. When I arrived at MSP with Troy and some outreach kids, I reserved the field from 3 to 6PM. The weather was great and we had all our equipment ready. There were plenty of kids at 3PM so we started training right away.

We trained at the left side of the field from 3-4PM before having practice games. Boys born 95 and 96 played the highschool girls from 4-5. There were 9 girls who attended practice. I was very happy with this number though Riana and Marsha were absent due to a party in Alabang for the Dana Cup Team. Apple and Louise were absent also due to homework and not feeling well respectively. As a result of these absences in the girls team, the elementary boys crushed them 5-1 in 40 minutes before I put in some highschool boys to help the girls.

Skie, Rvin, James, and John came from all sides causing confusion on the clearly out-of-shape girls team. They took shots left and right. The girls managed to clear some balls but defenders Troy, Edward, Vinz, and Tim kept sending the balls back to the forwards or the halfbacks (Jason and Luigi) who distributed the balls very well.

In the “Highschool vs Brookside Boys” game, HEdCen highschool scored 2 consecutive goals in the last 10 minutes to win 3-1. Again, Coach Bernard, myself, Andrew, and Bong played for the losing team. Nathan and Justin Santos played for us too. We dominated the first 20 minutes of the game and even went ahead early 1-0. I played central defender for Brookside. My defenders were Nathan and Justin. We took care of their offense very well until Pea and Shane beat our midfielders to the center causing us problems in marking. Andrew was forced to adjust to backcourt to neutralize the highschool’s midfield attack. We, the defenders, did a couple of offside traps that worked.

About 5 to 10 minutes before halftime, we encountered another problem. Renee dribbled the ball in the middle and there was no one taking him. We kept moving back because each of us defenders were marking attackers in a good position to score from a pass from Renee. When Renee reached the area just outside the penalty box, he took the shot and sent the ball over Sam hitting the top bar before going in. The game was tied 1-1 because of this. After that goal, I kept telling myself I should’ve challenged him earlier. Renee can kick very well. I should’ve known better.

The game was tied at halftime. After a 2-minute break, we resumed play. This time, Pea dominated. One of his crosses slipped past Sam’s reach and found an unmarked Kevin Benjamin in the right post. The defenders tried to get to him but the ball met Kevin’s foot and was sent straight to the net before anyone could stop him. Highschool lead 2-1 then.

I decided to exchange places with a midfielder to help our team catch up. We had a couple of good runs but Highschool defenders Nino and Zach were very tough to beat in front. Though Coach Bernard worked like a tireless horse, they never let him through.

All it took was one counterattack after I switched from defense to offense for them to score another goal. It was Pea this time who dribbled down the left side all the way to the base line. Then, he evaded his defender and continued to carry the ball towards the goal until he created a tiny angle to the goal, took the shot, and hit his mark at the far post.

My team tried desperately to equalize with 2 goals but again failed as time expired.

During that desperate time of trying to draw the game, I got bumped and fouled by some highschoolers which resulted to bruises on my knee and shoulder. I don’t normally complain about pain, but I guess I just didn’t expect to have to work or play this hard against the highschoolers. I’m happy my boys are getting better and tougher, but I’m also “sad” that we’ve been losing to these kids…hehe…I feel like I’m getting old. Nah, I can’t think that way if I want to win. We have to match their competitiveness in our next practice game. I’ll set the date some time this week.

No one expected that these girls would go this far, not even the girls, not even me. Sometimes I’d feel like its impossible for us Filipinos to be at par in football to other countries because its their number 1 sport. Like Mrs. Santos said, the girls proved us wrong, which is good, very good. Because now, I have a vision that Filipinos will shine and shake the grounds of the football world. To our tiny school hedcen, we were like an island to the continents of Ateneo, Xavier, Southridge, and all the big schools out there. And now, the school is still small, but the very sound of HEdCen makes coaches and players of other schools grow anxious, uneasy, and nervous. Hehe, we keep winning the championship kasi e..hehe..Who would’ve thought we’d go this far? Who thinks our country can’t excell in football? It will happen. If it has to start in HEdCen, in RIFA, it will happen. I think we need to send more teams abroad. As a GS-HS coach, I guess thats the best thing I could work on, to prepare young Filipinos for international competition. But I can’t do it alone. I hope some people share my dream, parents, coaches, players, sponsors. It can happen. We can win gold in boys and girls division, but we have to work for it. We have to prepare. We have to make it happen.

Our girls may have lost the game, but have won in that we have seen what we can achieve out there, that our dream of bringing pride and glory to our country through fooball is closer within reach than most of us ever thought of.

Thank you to team RIFA-Philippines Dana Cup and Norway Cup. You guys make me proud to be Filipino.