THE 11-member Touch Football Pilipinas Ladies National Development team leaves for Thailand this week to compete in the Oakwood Bangkok Rugby10s tournament set from February 22-23.
Co-captained by Clair Barberis and Nerice dela Cruz, the team hopes to improve on the second place finish of the Nomads Bulletes in last year’s edition of the tournament.
But it’s not going to be a walk in the park for the Filipinas as the annual regional event showcases high-caliber Asian Touch teams from Dubai, Malayisa, Singapore, Myanmar, and the host country.
“The Bangkok Rugby10s tournament will be a gauge for us at how far we can go competitively against our Asian counterparts,” said longtime player Arabelle Jimenez during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum Tuesday at Shakey’s Malate.
Jimenez was with Touch Football Filipinas CEO Rey Gigataras, team manager Arlene Trinkler, and player Joan Javier in the sessions presented by Shakey’s, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and Accel.
Despite the tough challenge awaiting the Filipinas in Bangkok, Gigataras remained confident about the campaign of the team that has been the collaborative effort of the three major local touch clubs, namely, Nomads, UP Touch Football Club and Team Macherr, and Touch Football Coaches from the International School Manila, Craig Wislang and Steve Dodd.
“The Philippines can excel here dahil maraming Filipinos ang mabibilis tumakbo. Tsaka madali lang ang rules nito, ang depensa parang patintero, at ang opensa touchdown lang siya,” he said.
Touch Football also known as Touch or Touch Rugby originated from Australia and is a minimum contact sport almost similar to the full contact sport of rugby. But instead of the usual tackling, the opponent touches the person with the ball, making it less prone to injury.
The Filipinas, whose campaign is supported by Tribu, have been training the past two months under coaches Wislang and Dodd at the International School Manila pitch.
Other members of the team include Alexandra de Castro, Gene Flores, Aleth Hugo, Acee San Juan, and Maylene Savina.
Gigataras said following the tournament, national tryouts will also be held to form a national team to compete in the Touch Football World Cup to be held in Sydney, Australia in 2015.
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