JUST ANOTHER DAY | Football is alive and kicking at Assumption Iloilo

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BY LUIS BUENAFLOR JR.
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Wednesday, July 5, 2017
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I DON’T usually write about things personal but sometimes this sentimental old fool gets a kick in the butt by nostalgia and moi reminiscence about memories both good and bad.

I do write about bad memories and things that happened in my past but this time this is a pleasant memory and one that moi is quite proud of.

Football or soccer as the Americans call it, to differentiate the “beautiful game” from their brainless and utterly stupid game they call “American football”, which is really a stupid game as the Americans call it football yet the entire game nobody kicks the ball; all they do is try to knock each other out wearing full body armour and helmets.

Anyway the game I’m referring to is football as it is known in Europe, South America, Asia, and the rest of the world.

Yes, football – the “beautiful game” brought to these islands by my ancestors from the Iberian Peninsula.

As the English would describe it, “Football is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans.”

Football is a tradition in our family, my father having played for his beloved school “Colegio de San Agustin” in the 1930s and teammate of the great Paulino Alcantara in the Bohemians Football Club.

I remember my father telling me when I was old enough to kick the football: “Hijo quiero que uses el rojo y el oro,” which means “Son, I want you to wear the red and gold”, the colors of the varsity teams of San Agustin. Of course I did and along the way played for Iloilo and Western Visayas for four Iloilo PRISAAs, four West Visayas PRISAAs and four National PRISAAs Football Championships.

I came to Assumption Iloilo some 36 years ago as a schoolteacher almost fresh out of the University in my early 20s. And you may ask why teach there? Well, Assumption is also part of the family tradition, my abuelas, aunts and primas all studied there.  

That day I really felt proud; this time I’m a professional schoolteacher in Assumption, no longer a “long-haired hippie” checking out pretty Assumptionistas.

And naturally because I am a footballer our Principal, Sister Claire Cecilia RA, also assigned me to teach Physical Education or PE and the Sports Club aside from my academic subjects.

So the first thing this footballer did was to find out where the football field was and if the school had footballs, and the answer to both was there was none.

I went around the campus and found the field in the semi-quadrangle of the old college department building (college was abolished during the ‘80s). This was the largest open air grass field in school, not ideal, quite small but good enough.

Makeshift goals were set up on both ends of the field and they were made of bamboo, makeshift indeed. No nets, of course. And the school bought rubber footballs, there were six, if I remember right.

After my first PE classes I found out that most of the boys were into football, some because their fathers were once footballers while some learned about the game from magazines and watching games in the plaza in La Paz and Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo. Take note, there was no cable television then.

This inspired me to set up a football club in Assumption and really developed these boys into footballers instead of just a game in PE class.

It took a while convincing Sister Claire to give moi permission to start the football program patterned after the “Go for Goal” training system. I was a certified graduate of their “Train the Trainers Program.”

The talent potential of the boys was enormous. With the help of teammates from the “Grasshoppers” Football Club and San Agustin who volunteered as trainers, we were able to form a really competitive team in the U-13 level.

We soon joined competitions in Iloilo City and Barotac Nuevo and surprised everyone by ending up as champion in one and runner-up in another.

My boys went on to high school; a couple went on to join the varsity in San Agustin and UP in the Visayas. To be fair I won’t mention names here.

A couple also became successful politicians but one I’m most proud of because he carried the torch of football and is now one of the football coaches in Ateneo de Iloilo.

I soon left Assumption and Iloilo City and went on to chase life’s adventures, taking moi to Europe, Asia and around Southeast Asia before finally settling down in Manila.

Now after more than three decades I came back to Assumption, this time as a “nanny” to my little granddaughter.

I had a pleasant surprise. Football is alive and kicking in Assumption. Sure it’s the same football field but with proper goals. The school has varsity teams both for boys and girls in football and futsal, and has a tie-up with Pagasa Football Club winning competitions and championships along the way.

What really made this sentimental old fool misty-eyed was my little granddaughter saying to me, “Lolo, I’ve joined the sports club, can you teach me how to play football?” (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)  

 

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