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| A full-sized crowd witnessed Week 4 of the 7's Football League last week. |
By Dugout Philippines
MANILA — As action continues to heat up in the Philam Life 7s Football League Season 3 and inaugural Megaworld 7s Youth League, founder and commissioner Anton Del Rosario is inviting everyone to continue supporting the country’s premier seven-a-side football competition held every Sunday at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig City.
Speaking at the weekly Usapang Sports press conference by the Tabloid Organization in Philippine Sports (TOPS) at the National Press Club on Thursday, Del Rosario chronicled the league’s beginnings and how it has grown since.
“I had taken eight or nine months off football and I started to miss the game so I put up something. We started off with eight teams and in the second season, we expanded to 10 teams. We happened to have gotten our finals live on TV5. This is our third season running. I was able to partner for Philam Life which is the title sponsor. Now, we have 12 men’s teams and 32 youth teams,” said Del Rosario.
The tournaments are now in full swing, with the men’s seniors league in its midseason while the youth league is in its final match day on March 3.
Just last Sunday, the league saw a record gate attendance of 4,106.
It was the highest in the league’s early history, and Del Rosario hopes bringing a family-friendly football atmosphere continues to attract fans.
“I try to make it very fun and more festive. Having grown up in the United States, one of the favorite things I wanted to do when I was younger is to go to professional games with my dad. It was not more about the team but more of the atmosphere. That's what I am trying to bring more into football to my tournament. I want something where fans and family will come in week in and week out for the festivities but also watch the people play. We do have people like several celebrities and ex-Azkals players in the game,” said Del Rosario.
“Why we do seven aside is I find it more appealing to the Filipino people because I believe the Filipino action want a lot of action when it comes to sports. With my league, we do seven-a-side, which means the fields are much shorter, 50 minutes, and we have five to six goals a game average so as you can tell from the details there, you see more end-to-end action, you have a lot more shots on goal, saves, and a lot more contact and physicality because of the size of the field,” he further said.
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