Philam Vitality KAMPEON 7s Cup set this weekend

7s Football League boss Anton del Rosario flanked by Philam Life executives, Faezal Murni of Brunei 7s, and former Philippines international Belay Fernando

With the backdrop of a successful third season, the 7s Football League is set to make even more milestones in the months ahead, starting this coming weekend.

Top-quality seven-a-side football is on tap with the Philam Vitality KAMPEON 7s Cup, as the best of Metro Manila bands together to go up against the best that their counterparts in Bacolod, Cebu, and Davao have to offer in a two-day All-Star Tournament to determine which region has the best 7s side.

The announcement of the tourney was made in Makati last week, with the presence of Philam Life officials, led by Branding and Communications Head Bernadette Chincuanco, Philam Vitality program head Kats Cajucom, and Chief Marketing Officer Leonard Tan.

Del Rosario shares, "The 7s Football League is in four major cities across the nation now: Manila, Bacolod, Cebu, and Davao. In order to bring it all together, I thought it would be best to create a tournament to see who the best is in the country. What I have done together with Philam Vitality is to have these cities put together all-star teams composed of 10 Filipinos and four imports to represent their cities. We will be flying teams to Manila to compete on July 27 and 28 to see who the best in the country. That's what the KAMPEON 7s is all about: creating opportunity for people across the country."

From Philam Life's perspective, both Chincuanco and Cajucom appreciate the benefits their partnership with the 7s Football League has yielded.

The former says, "We would like to congratulate Anton and the 7s Football League for the KAMPEON 7s Cup launch. It is a truly fitting follow-up for our 7s Football League. We were all witnesses to how the league grew by leaps and bounds, having a youth and women's league. Now, Anton and the team are spreading it outside Manila, giving us the opportunity to spread the positive impact of people and allowing Philam Life to work with them and do more football clinics at the grassroots level. We would like to thank Anton for the opportunity for allowing us to partner with him. We are very happy and we like what we are seeing. We are going to partner with him in this journey."

The latter adds, "We are very honored to partner and be the title sponsor of the KAMPEON 7s Cup as it aligns with Philam Vitality's goals to help Filipinos live a longer, healthier, better life. Philam Vitality is a wellness program that rewards people for making healthy choices, like playing football. This is something we introduced to the Philippines a few years back because we want to communicate that healthy living is indeed rewarding and what better way to demonstrate it by partnering with the KAMPEON 7s Cup."

Aside from the KAMPEON 7s Cup, the 7s Football League is also looking to get themselves into the regional scene, with plans for a dual meet against their Brunei counterparts this coming October, with the potential of holding a mini-Southeast Asian 7s football tournament by February 2020.

One of del Rosario's partners in the Brunei 7s Football League was present at the launch. Faezal Murni says, "How I decided to partner with Anton is I like his initiative and platform. The 7s is now on a national level and he is trying to bring it to the Southeast Asian regional level. That's what I like about this initiative and the Brunei partners are very happy to join him in this project. It has a very good potential for the 7s industry."

Del Rosario shared that talks are ongoing with Fernando with regards to how to help grow the game for females, as well as entertained the prospects of holding fund raisers for cancer patients during 7s Football League events, whether at the KAMPEON 7s Cup or in the upcoming fourth season.

The cancer survivor and former Philippine international footballer shares, "I've been interested in starting to raise funds for people who are diagnosed with cancer. In the previous year, I have been blessed with cancer. Why blessed? Because I was able to see and undergo how difficult it can be and how you can't do it without the support of your family and friends."

She adds, "Anton is a very good friend of mine and what we want to do is start perhaps with booths at the KAMPEON 7s Cup and invite current and former athletes to donate jerseys, shoes, and whatever they can commit for a raffle to raise funds. It became a fruitful discussion with the partners Philam Life and Philam Vitality who mentioned they do work with a charity that is in line with what I want to launch."

The just-concluded third season of the Philam Life 7s introduced a women's division, with Outkast FC being its first inaugural champions, and although the upcoming KAMPEON 7s Cup does not have a women's division matchup, the possibility of having one in the future could be in play.