Here’s Edward dela Cruz and John Condat, the dynamic left wing combo of HEdCen Midgets A. John played left forward and Edward played left halfback. Not only did they deliver in offense but in defense as well, trapping opponents on double-team effort.

Zach Riskin tries to decide what he’s going to do with the ball as pressure is applied from behind (Marist practice game, July 19, 2008).

I think this shot was taken 4 or 5 years ago… The small field looks the same but the kids… major changes…

Angelo Frejas and his team stretches before the practice game against Marist last Saturday, July 19, 2008.

Coach Sugar gives reminders to the highschool team before playing against Marist last Saturday, July 19, 2008.

Adeva, Ackie -
Adeva, Alen -
Almazan, Miguel -
Cabangon, Justin -
Carranza, Skie - 14
Cava, Ravi -
Cervania, Troy - 7
Condat, James - 19
Condat, John - 16
Cuervo, Aldo - 5
dela Cruz, Edward -
Din, Matthew - 1
Domingo, Ige - 2
Epino, Vinz -
Felizardo, Diego -
Fernandez, Luigi - 21
Ferrer, Carlos -
Frejas, Angelo -
Layug, Jason - 4
Nackaerts, Nikko - 10
Resuma, Rvin - 13
Solatorio, Anton -
Tolentino, Jared - 9
Valera, Vincent -

Objective: Try to beat your record every week (even by just 1 point)

When doing push-ups, arms must be perpendicular to body, body kept straight, and chest should slightly touch the ground.

You may exercise at home but only push-ups done during varsity time is recorded.

On Monday, July 21, we will train after class for about 30 minutes. We will do slow jogging and juggling. That should be enough to keep our bodies in shape till our next training on Friday or Monday.

-All midgets A players are required to train on Monday, July 21. We will end our practice at 5pm. Our next official training after that will be next week, Monday, July 28.

-We might have a practice game this Saturday.

-Midgets A may join the training on Friday, July 25.

This morning, we played 2 games with Marist. In the first game, our HEdCen Midgets A team (boys born 95-97) beat Marist 3-1. At the start of the game, Marist seemed to be taking control until our players, ALL our players transformed into a team with one mind. HEdCenites were always 2 steps ahead. We were able to penetrate Marist’s defense on both wings. Before the game, Coach Sugar and I reminded the boys on each side to work together using combination plays to utilize the space and make breakaway attacks to the wings. They did just that. James and Luigi got things going on the right side. Their runs were well-timed, and their passes to the spaces were very good. On the left flank, it was John and Edward. They did just as well as the right wingers and had very good help from Miguel Almazan, striker, and Rvin Resuma, center midfielder. The first goal was scored by James Condat who caught the goalie away from the goal and delivered a shot that went over the Marist defense, keeper, and into the net. A few minutes after, Harvy Maitem of Marist received a pass from Marist teammates and caught HEdCen’s defenders getting too comfortable at the back. He took a shot and banged the ball past Nikko’s hands. The game was tied at that point. It was then that HEdCen’s defense woke up and never let Marist score again. Rvin Resuma scored the next 2 goals which lifted HEdCen 3-1 by halftime.

I was very happy to see all of our players perform very well today in the Midgets A division. Jason played brilliantly when he relieved Luigi at the left. The game rhythm was not lost even if there changes in the positions of some players. Ackie and Troy played exceptionally well in their positions today as defenders.

We still need to make our cutting and passing more automatic. It has to turn into an instinct so I will devise some drills and scrimmages that will help them further anticipate each other’s moves and have more options in the field which may result to better decisions made by each player in the games.

Our highschoolers beat Marist 3-1 though they struggled the entire game. I think that HEdCen was more conscious of working as a team and avoiding solo plays than in the game against CSA last week but it was evident that they were very uncomfortable using the wings to penetrate the defense of their opponent. They were also out of shape. They were very sluggish and their reaction time was slow. We can work on the game movement and system of the team slowly but the players must get themselves fit or the game plan will be useless.

Coach Bernard is planning a training program to address the team’s lack of endurance but we are hoping the highschool players will be responsible enough to train together. So far, its always been 4-5 highschoolers who practice at a time. I hope after the midterms starting Friday, the highschool team will train religiously MWTh. Managing time is a challenge for a highschooler but it can be done.

I still have high hopes for our candidates because they have the potential to be a winning team and a contender for the championship. Right now, we’re far from it but we can still reach that goal in time if we start working now. We have the material, but now, we need the desire and the commitment of the players.

John Condat gives his all to get to the ball for his team.

I’ve never actually seen him work this hard and this well before. He played excellently in his initial left forward position. When he switched with Rvin for center midfielder, I honestly did not expect that he would take control of the middle because of his size. He worked like a horse in the center and supported both left and right sides very well.

Jomar Dalaguit, striker, and his all-highschool team beat Marist in the practice game this morning. HEdCen won 3-1.