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| AboitizLand's Phil Ang Ti and Eduardo Aboitiz and RSA Una Group's Rely San Agustin hold the football together as a sign of their partnership for the AboitizLand Football Cup Lipa leg starting on Oct. 13. Ivan Saldajeno |
LIPA—The longest running grassroots football tournament down south is making a return to the Aboitiz Pitch here for the second time.
On Thursday, the Luzon leg of the former Aboitiz Cup, now known as the AboitizLand Football Cup, was formally launched at the Ippon Yari Restaurant situated right at the stands of the said venue.
This time around, the Lipa leg of the tournament will be the starting point of its 21st season as it opens shop on Oct. 13 with the boys under-15 tournament.
And there will be no stopping the AboitizLand Football Cup to kick off on the said date even if a scheduled match between Mendiola and Global Makati in the PFL was originally slated to take place here.
In fact, former college football star Rely San Agustin, whose RSA Una Group is partnering with the AboitizLand Inc. for the AboitizLand Football Cup, said that they already made an agreement with Mendiola, the designated host, for the said PFL match to be played elsewhere.
"The opening was already scheduled even before the schedule change of the PFL. We had to advise the general manager that we can't move this cup anymore," San Agustin said during the press launch at the said diner.
To make it even more fun to watch, AboitizLand moved to have the games played in a seven-a-side format similar to the thriving Philam Life 7's Football League.
"The reason why we switched to sevens is because we want to accommodate more teams. We want a more festive atmosphere," San Agustin further said, adding that he is expecting as much as 20 teams per division.
But unlike the 7's Football League, which implements a full league season, the AboitizLand Football Cup is keeping its traditional one-day tournament, or a football festival as they call it, per division format.
While the cup will start on Oct. 13, the main attractions of the event, which will run until Dec. 8, are the men's open on Oct. 20 and the mixed open on Nov. 9.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
This time around, the Lipa leg of the tournament will be the starting point of its 21st season as it opens shop on Oct. 13 with the boys under-15 tournament.
And there will be no stopping the AboitizLand Football Cup to kick off on the said date even if a scheduled match between Mendiola and Global Makati in the PFL was originally slated to take place here.
In fact, former college football star Rely San Agustin, whose RSA Una Group is partnering with the AboitizLand Inc. for the AboitizLand Football Cup, said that they already made an agreement with Mendiola, the designated host, for the said PFL match to be played elsewhere.
"The opening was already scheduled even before the schedule change of the PFL. We had to advise the general manager that we can't move this cup anymore," San Agustin said during the press launch at the said diner.
To make it even more fun to watch, AboitizLand moved to have the games played in a seven-a-side format similar to the thriving Philam Life 7's Football League.
"The reason why we switched to sevens is because we want to accommodate more teams. We want a more festive atmosphere," San Agustin further said, adding that he is expecting as much as 20 teams per division.
But unlike the 7's Football League, which implements a full league season, the AboitizLand Football Cup is keeping its traditional one-day tournament, or a football festival as they call it, per division format.
While the cup will start on Oct. 13, the main attractions of the event, which will run until Dec. 8, are the men's open on Oct. 20 and the mixed open on Nov. 9.
Follow him on Twitter: @IvanSaldajeno
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