IPPCA pre-season football kicks off Oct. 14

Varsity football action gets an early peek when the Independent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association (IPPCA) launches the sport’s first preseason tournament this month.

UAAP back-to-back champion University of the Philippines and San Beda, the squad that has reigned in 10 of the last 11 NCAA seasons, banner the 16-team men’s field when the 2012 IPPCA Pre-Season Football Cup fires off on Oct. 14 at Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

“All the IPPCA members are supportive of the idea that we should do something to help in youth development,” said Fer Martinez, the league chair and president of IPPCA, an organization composed of the country’s independent oil players.

“We can already see our Azkals team beating some of the countries that we couldn’t beat before. So what more if we focus on our youth.”

Organizer Filoil Flying V Sports, the same group that has established the summer varsity basketball tournament, has lured the topnotch teams to gauge their readiness months before action in the UAAP and NCAA gets going.

“They’ve had a head start and it has been accepted as a preseason tournament in basketball, so we want to have the same exposure in football,” Martinez said during the press launch at N20 Gastrobar in Quezon City on Tuesday night.

Other UAAP teams joining the Maroons Booters are Ateneo, La Salle, Far Eastern University, National University, University of the East and University of Santo Tomas.

NCAA teams St. Benilde, Mapua, Perpetual Help, Arellano, Emilio Aguinaldo College and Lyceum also figure in the action along with guest teams Rizal Technological University and University of Makati.

“Football is the most popular sport in the world, and five to 10 years down the line, we can see the competitiveness heightened here,” said Martinez.

Joey Guillermo, league co-chair and FFV Sports general manager, said champion teams will receive trophies cash scholarships worth P50,000 in the men’s division and P25,000 in the juniors.

La Salle Green Hills, which is gunning for a record 11th straight NCAA juniors title, and UAAP juniors back-to-back winner FEU-Diliman head the juniors cast composed of Ateneo, La Salle Zobel, UST, San Beda, Letran, San Sebastian, Arellano, Perpetual Help and Xavier.