Kampeon Cup set for Cebu debut, defending champions seek title defense

Photo c/o Karl Tan

The third edition of the AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup is set to be unveiled later this month, with the action finally making its long overdue visit to Cebu.

Set to take place on September 22-24 at the Dynamic Herb Complex in Cebu, the hosts will defend their crown against seven other squads, with each of them seeking to be the second-ever champion of the competition.

Leading the cast of challengers is BGC, who has been the losing finalists of the last couple of editions. Ethan Lee, who is managing the side, has decided to tap 7s Football League head honcho Anton del Rosario to serve as a playing coach for the side, in a bid to finally unseat Cebu.

Also set to take part are Bacolod, Iloilo, Palawan, and Pampanga. Davao returns after missing out on the second edition, while making its debut is Zamboanga, whom del Rosario praised for the work that has been done to grow the game there.

Action commences on September 22 with pool play taking place until the afternoon of September 23. Top two teams advance into the crossover semifinals that evening.

The final will take place on September 24 at 2pm, with youth matches serving as an appetizer for the culminating day.

The competition seeks to cap off a strong year for the partnership and investment AIA Philippines has had with seven-a-side football in the country.

AIA Philippines Head of Branding and Communications Bernadette Chincuanco shares, "AIA Philippines, formerly Philam Life, has been partners with the 7s since 2019, even through the pandemic, and we’ve had very good games together, bringing football to so many children and communities in the Philippines and living our brand purpose of helping people live, healthier, longer, better lives. We look forward to more of these."

Lee, who is the AIA 7s Executive Director, shares, "This will be the biggest showing yet in terms of participation in the AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup. With every tournament we play, the league grows even more. I cannot think of a great way to cap off this 2023 with an eight-team field competing for the title of the fastest growing sport and biggest football tournament in the country."

For Del Rosario, this is a reflection of the continued growth of his program. He says, "Last season, we had over 700 teams from several cities around the country participating in their own local 7s football tournaments. Now we have an even bigger field. This will ultimately help the selection for the team that will represent us in the next BPI AIA Asia 7s and perhaps, even the TST tournament."

Back in April, the first AIA Vitality Women's Kampeon Cup took place, with a couple of coaches from AIA-supported Tottenham visiting the country. Not long after, the first BPI AIA Asia 7s brought together some of the best seven-a-side ballers from across the region, with both competitions being held at the McKinley-Hill Football Stadium.

A few weeks after that, AIA helped support the lone Asian entrant Far East United in The Soccer Tournament, a $1M winner-take-all competition that made waves in North Carolina.

The experience allowed del Rosario, and Lee, to import a few things from TST into the 7s Football League, which just started its 8th season earlier this month, as well as in the Kampeon Cup.

The most notable adoption is Target Score Time, which is TST's version of the Elam Ending in their sister competition, The Basketball Tournament. Teams will play an untimed period with the objective of scoring one goal to serve as a winning moment. If Team A is trailing Team B, they will need to score one more goal than Team B's total at the end of the second half. Team B only needs to score to secure the victory.

A quirk of target score time is that every few minutes, a player from both sides will be taken off the field.

With the all the things happening in the sport in the past year, the former Philippines international had one thing to say about that, "It’s a great time to be involved in football."

Japan tops Asia 7s

Champions of Asia 7s

Japan capped off the inaugural BPI AIA Asia 7s as its inaugural champions, defeating India in the final, 3-2 on Sunday at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig.

Shohei Agata found Takaharu Nakagawa for the game-winning goal in the 50th minute, his second of the game and eighth in the tournament.

Nakagawa had given Japan the lead just at the end of first half, but India managed to answer back a couple of minutes after the restart, as Clinton D'Souza found Johnson D'Silva for the equalizer.

Tomoya Sekina retook the lead at the half-hour mark, but India answered back as Mervin Stephen equalized against with just under ten minutes remaining.

Head Coach Keller Costa, who before the competition confidently expressed their title chances, would re-insert Agata in the final minutes with the role of being a pivot in the middle, setting up the winning heroics and an unblemished record.

Costa explains, "I know I said we’d win it, but you have to say it. Now you have to back up those words and I am glad the boys did. They worked hard for this."

In the third place game, the Philippines fended off an attempted Brunei comeback to secure a 6-3 victory.

MJ Libre ran wild for the hosts. scoring four goals in the first half as they scored the first five goals of the match.

Brunei would pull one back just before the first half, thanks to Khairul Amirin Mohammad.

Ulfi Aminuddin helped cut the deficit to 5-2, but they missed two penalty shots that could have cut the deficit further.

Libre would score his fifth goal five minutes from the end to make it 6-2, with an injury time strike from Ifmal Hakim completing the scoring in injury time.

Supporting the inaugural BPI AIA Asia 7s Football Championships are BPI AIA, TapGo TV, Blaze Athletics, Palaro, and the Mansion Sports Bar and Lounge.

Japan, India set for Asia 7s final

 

Japan and India set themselves up for a rematch to determine the inaugural BPI AIA Asia 7s champion.

The two will face off after they won their respective semifinal assignments on Saturday at McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig.

The former booked its spot in the final with a 6-1 victory over Brunei, whilst the latter clawed their way to a 4-3 win over the Philippines.

Japan went ahead four minutes into the match with a goal from Shohei Agata, doubling it at the 23rd minute thanks to Takaharu Nagata.

Brunei would pull one back in the second half, as Danish Alfian intercepted a pass from Itsuki Yamada and sent it past keeper Shunya Okita in the 35th minute.

Japan, however, responded with Agata scoring twice in a couple of minutes to net his hat trick.

Ryusei Okuma and Tomoya Sekina capped off scoring as they earned the first finals spot.

In contrast to the first semifinal, India had to go through the ringer to earn the other spot.

The Philippines, bolstered by the presence of Bienvenido Maranon, wasted no time taking advantage of the presence of the star striker.

After scoring four goals in their 11-1 demolition of Brunei in their last elimination round matchup, the former United City Football Club striker put the hosts ahead 2-0 after ten minutes, a couple of minutes after MJ Libre opened the scoring.

India found their legs and equalized with a couple of Johnson D'Silva goals in a span of three minutes, tying things up at 2-2 after 23 minutes.

Dean Ebarle retook the lead early in the second half, as his 27th minute strike made it 3-2 Philippines, but India found an answer with ten minutes remaining in the game, as Clinton D'Souza tied things again at 3-3.

D'Silva would cap off the match with a golden goal clincher in the first half of added time, allowing India to steal the win and the second finals berth.

The final is a rematch of their final elimination round duel, which Japan won, 5-1. Kickoff is set at 5pm at McKinley Hill Stadium. The Philippines and Brunei will face off in the third place game at 330pm.

Both matches will be streamed live on the TapGo TV application.

Japan, India take charge in Asia 7s

Japan and India impress in the opening day at at BPI AIA 7s Football Championships on Friday night, opening with a couple wins at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

The former issued eight goals against the Philippines and nine against Brunei, while the latter put five past Brunei and eked out a 2-0 win over the hosts.

The Philippines managed to score first against Japan, with Jappeth Piñero's corner kick deflecting off a Japanese defender in the 11th minute.

It did not take long for a response, as Japan answered back with Takaharu Nakagawa brace in a span of two minutes to take a 2-1 lead after fifteen minutes.

Rusei Okuma would score the third goal three minutes later, and Nakagawa would complete his hat trick at the 27th minute, ensuring a 4-1 first half lead.

Okuma would eventually score a hat trick with two more goals in the second half, with Shohei Agata and Reo Sato completing the scoring.

Against Brunei, Nakagawa, Okuma, and Naoki Oishi each netted a brace, while Agata, Sato, and Tomoya Sekine also scoring.

India kicked off its campaign with Johnson D'Silva and Clinton D'Souza netting a brace against Brunei, with Season D'Souza also scoring.

Yunos Yakim would score the lone goal for Brunei in first half added time to cut the deficit to 3-1.

Brunei would have chances to to cut the lead down further, but were unable to complete, including a one-on-one opportunity against India's keeper.

India capped things off with a second half burst against the hosts, as Mervin Stephen and Craig D'Souza scoring in back to back minutes.

Action resumes on Saturday with the final set of round robin matches at 330pm, with Japan facing India battling who finishes the prelims undefeated, while the Philippines and Brunei battle to determine who does not finish with a winless record.

The semifinal knockout matches will take place afterwards.

All matches will be shown live on the TapGO streaming application.

Four nations set for inaugural Asia 7s

Fresh from the success of the AIA Vitality Women's Kampeon Cup, the 7s Football League is set to ride the wave of seven-a-side with inaugural continental competition this weekend.

The BPI AIA Asia 7s brings together four nations for three days of intense action at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig, as hosts the Philippines faces off against Brunei, India, and Japan.

The tournament will feature a round robin on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, that would determine the semifinal matchups to be played that day, with the winners coming back on Sunday to determine the first-ever-champion.

Anton del Rosario, who founded the 7s Football League, declares, "This tournament is about building dreams. Who doesn’t want to represent their country through sports competition? The Asia 7s platform provides these communities to represent their country through seven-a-side football. I can’t wait to grow these dreams."

Accompanying del Rosario in this endeavor is AIA Philippines, supporting the tournament through BPI AIA.

Head of Branding and Communications Bernadette Chincuanco shares, "We’re very happy to extend the partnership across the AIA Philippines Group. This time around BPI AIA—our bancassurance arm—will come in and sponsor the Asia 7s international football tournament, bringing together the best of football not just from the Philippines but also from other countries to battle it out in the pitch. Through this sponsorship, football becomes the platform through which we bring to life our Purpose of helping people live healthier, longer, better lives."

BPI AIA's Partnership Marketing Principal Mika Calixterio adds, "The recent years have made people more aware and realize the importance of their health and many have started to make better choices to improve their lifestyles. We’ve seen more and more people reigniting their love for sports or even trying out new ones. By partnering with Anton and his team, we hope that we can emphasize our advocacy and commitment to help Filipinos live healthier, longer, better lives; and further localize the AIA group’s support for football through BPI AIA’s participation as the newest member of the AIA and 7s partnership family."

All three visiting teams expressed optimism in becoming the inaugural champion of the tournament, which is supported by 7x7, TapGo TV, Blaze Athletics, and Mansion Sports Bar & Lounge.

India's playing coach Aniketh Kesarkar notes that this is not their first go-round, as he bares, "We took part in a tournament in Guatemala six years ago and this will be our second." He also shares, "We currently have a national league with 24 teams associated with us. In fact, we have more talent in 7s football than 11-a-side."

Japan's head coach Keller Costa admits, "Expectations for the team are high." The Brazilian acknowledges, "We are here to win it."

Brunei coach Rashid Zakaria says, "This is a great opportunity for us to represent ourselves and our country. We might have a new team, but we will give it our all."

BGC named inaugural Kampeon Cup champions

Team BGC

Hosts Bonifacio Global City topped the inaugural AIA Vitality Women's Kampeon Cup after a couple of impressive shutout at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

BGC plastered Palawan in their semifinal matchup, 7-0, then dispatched Muntinlupa in a rematch, 5-0, on Sunday afternoon.

The latter forced a rematch after they pulled off a 5-1 victory over Cebu in their semifinal matchup, buoyed by the presence of Philippines international Camille Rodriguez.

In the final, however, BGC showed the mettle that merited their tags as favorites.

They would break the ice after four minutes, as Joyce Semacio raced down the right flank and drew four defenders. Displaying that deft touch, the do-it-all player sent a cross that blew past the remaining Muntinlupa players and found an unmarked Shelah Cadag who blasted the ball past the keeper.

The second goal did not take long, as Dai Dolino's long clearance somehow found the right top corner of the net.

Maegan Alforque made it 3-0 for BGC before ten minutes has even elapsed in the final.

Semacio would make it 4-0 thanks to a penalty in the 19th minute.

Muntinlupa would managed to keep the scoreline there until halftime, but Cadag's second goal eventually came in the second half to cap off an impressive scoring spree in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Semacio did double duty as well with Charisa Lemoran by also keeping Rodriguez in check all game long.

The former UST standout finished with nine goals overall, still showing her scoring prowess.

Head coach Shane Cosgrove shares, "I am happy for the girls. Every week in the 7s, they go hard against each other but in this team, they found a common cause to collectively take home a championship."

The Nomads mentor adds, "They knew that Muntinlupa had great quality but we stuck to our game plan of stopping their playmakers and it worked for us."

The third place game saw Cebu win, 2-1, but not before being tested by Palawan's keeper Desiree Juan.

BGC, Cebu top Women's Kampeon Cup group stage action

Team Cebu

Cebu and Bonifacio Global City topped Group Stage action after Day 1 of the inaugural AIA Vitality Women's Kampeon Cup on Saturday, April 15, at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

BGC romped their way to the semifinals with a 12-1 demolition of Pampanga and a 5-1 victory over Muntinlupa to top Group A.

Team was led by the best of the best in the 7s Football League in Shelah Cadag, Maegan Alforque, Charisa Lemoran, and Joyce Semacio, with Nomads' Shane Cosgrove utilizing an uptempo game with their quick diagonal passing and pressure making it difficult for their opponents.

Muntinlupa earned a 3-0 shutout of Pampanga in the opener to finish runner-up in the group.

Coached by former UP men's football stalwart Ryan Fermin, they rode on their go-to-options Hazel Lustan, Danielle Tanjangco, Nicole Ramores, and Mai Martinez, focing Pampanga keeper Bim Capuno to make at least a dozen saves in the first half.

Capuno was forced to the sidelines after an inadvertent knee to the right side of her face, forcing Kate Herrera into action.

The reserve keeper would manage to deny Muntinlupa thrice before conceding a couple in two minutes.

Capuno would manage to return into action, but Mary Loise Defante clinched the win with an insurance goal for the final score.

In Group B, Cebu escaped with a 5-3 victory over Batangas, while putting forth a 6-0 shutout of Palawan.

Joining the Queen City in the next round is Palawan, as they held on to a 2-1 win over Batangas,

With the results now in the books, the semifinal matchups are now confirmed for this afternoon, as BGC faces Palawan and Cebu going up against Muntinlupa. The winners will then face off for the championship and the losers for the third place game.

The first ever AIA Vitality Women’s Kampeon Cup is also sponsored by TapGo TV, the official broadcaster of the tournament, 7x7, Palaro, Blaze Athletics, and Mansion Sports Bar and Lounge.

Tottenham coaches present for AIA Philippines Here to Play

Flanking Ethan Lee and Anton del Rosario are the representatives of the six teams in the inaugural Women's Kampeon Cup.

Aligned with the AIA Vitality Women's Kampeon Cup, the 7s Football League will also conduct grassroots activities at the McKinley Hill Stadium this weekend.

To help in this endeavour, league partner AIA Philippines is tapping a couple of coaches from Tottenham Hotspur, which the firm is a Global Principal Partner, for the AIA Philippines Here to Play program, a pilot campaign that takes place in AIA countries.

Shannon Moloney and Tegan Burling were introduced to the media on Friday night, as the International Development Coaches will assist in the training sessions and also partake of the Women's Kampeon Cup activities.

The former was a midfielder in her playing days, having played for the Spurs in the FA Women's Super League back in 2016-2019. The 34-year-old shares, "Both Coach Tegan and I are excited to finally be here. We first got involved back in 2020 but the lockdown happened due to the pandemic. Our interaction was done through online meetings."

The latter adds, "We’re going to be going around the pitch tomorrow for the festival where we will be playing games that involve the kids as well as our guests and sponsors. While we like to work with the young to teach them to play the right way, it is never too late to fall in love with the game of football."

AIA Philippines Head of Brand and Communications Bernadette Chincuanco notes, "It’s the first time that we’re having a special sponsorship for women, and it is high time that we shine the spotlight on these strong players in a male-dominated sport. And this tournament is part of a whole-day and weekend event of football, dance, music, and good food brought to you by AIA Philippines and BPI AIA."

The Women's Kampeon Cup brings together outstanding seven-a-side footballers from its different locations. The inaugural iteration is bringing six teams: Batangas, BGC, Cebu, Muntinlupa, Palawan, and Pampanga.

For Palawan's head coach Matt Gol-lod, he can relate to his team's excitement. "We’re very happy to be a part of this prestigious tournament and for the girls to meet the Tottenham coaches will surely inspire them."

Fans can watch the AIA Vitality Women's Kampeon Cup through the streaming application TapGO TV. By using the code TGTVAIA, one can not only watch the the tournament, but also partake of the exclusive access available on the app for the next month.

Also sponsoring the competition are Palaro, 7x7, and Blaze Athletics.

Rangers claims 7s Football League title

Rangers as Div 1 champions

A new champion was crowned in the AIA 7s Football League Division 1, as Rangers Philippines survived a 2-1 penalty shootout victory over Manila Digger on Sunday night at the McKinley Hill Stadium.

Olisa Anena scored the winning spot kick, with Junel Marasigan able to stop all of the defending champions' attempts. The keeper ended up being named as the Most Valuable Player for his efforts.

Ebere Juel broke through in the ninth minute for Rangers, but Manila Digger found their equalizer just before the end of regulation through a strike from Ilemona Usman, the first goal Rangers allowed in the postseason.

Extra time saw both teams unable to pierce their respective defenses, setting up the heroics in the penalty shootout.

Team manager Kross Ubiam shared, post-match, "We were peaking at the right time."

Rangers completed its "Cinderella" run in the postseason with this championship, which was set up through a 7-0 shutout of Middle Beast in the quarterfinals and a 3-0 upset of top seeds Sino FC in the semifinals.

Coached by former UAAP champion Ayi Aryee, Rangers is composed of: Ebere Juel, Bolaji Idris, Stanley Edeme, Hassan Mohhamed, Forio Jonah, Junel Marasigan, Fidel Nnabuife, Charles Ujam, Olisa Anene, Femi Originde, Charles Muotouh, Idowu Ominisi, Bernard Ifeachor, and Mikael Lagard.

In the two other division finals, Black Amigos defeated Resenha, 4-2, to claim Division 2, with Manila Digger not going empty handed as they secured a 3-2 win over Mangtas FC in Division 3.

Manila Digger seeks Div 1 repeat in 7s Football League

 

Manila Digger seeks to defend their AIA 7s Football Division 1 title on Sunday, November 27, at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig. Kickoff is scheduled at 630pm.

Led by Stephen "Tonaldo" Appiah, who recently represented BGC at the Kampeon Cup, Manila Digger is also backstopped by a couple of collegiate standouts in Michael Asong and Darwin Regala.

Tonaldo shares, "Tactically, mentally, and physically, we are ready for the game. It will definitely be a difficult game but we are ready."

Serving as the foil in this one is Rangers Philippines, who carved two upsets en route to the final, dispatching Middle Beast and top-ranked Sino FC. They also were able to defeat Manila Digger in the eliminations, which may prove to be a slight advantage.

Managed by former Kaya FC defender Kross Ubiam and coached by former UAAP champion Ayi Aryee, they are led by former UFL players Fidel Nnabuife and Charles Ujam.

Kross says about the matchup, "This is going to be a great finals but we are going for nothing less than the cup. Manila Digger are not pushovers but we will be ready. Let the best team win."

There will also two other men's finals to be decided, with Manila Digger facing off against Mangtas in Division 3 at 430pm, followed by Black Amigos against Resenha at 530pm.

Cebu defeats BGC to repeat as AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup champions

Cebu retains Kampeon Cup

Cebu successfully defended the AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup on Sunday, capping off their campaign with a 2-1 victory over BGC at the La Provincia Polo Field in Bacolod.

Smarting from a 3-1 defeat to them in the preliminary rounds, BGC tried to exact revenge by putting forth some pressure through their attack, but Leonard Tan proved to be a worthy adversary, preventing them from getting the ball to cross the line.

It wasn't until Tonaldo converting a 49th minute penalty that BGC broke through, but not before Cebu netting two goals in a span of nine minutes. Hayato Fukui opened things up in the 36th minute, with John Clyde Vitualla in the 45th minute.

BGC tried in vain to find an equalizer that would have sent the game into a shootout, but the tying goal never came to be.

Cebu finished undefeated in the 7-a-side competition, having also beaten Iloilo in the preliminaries on Saturday, 9-4. They then defeated Bacolod, 4-1 in the semifinals.

BGC bounced back from their opening match defeat with a 7-5 victory against Iloilo to book a semifinal matchup against San Carlos, whom they blasted 7-0 to set up the much-anticipated rematch on Sunday.

Tan was named as the Best Goalkeeper, with Vitualla named as the Most Valuable Player. BGC did not come empty-handed with Tonaldo named as the Best Scorer with his six goals in the competition.

Kampeon Cup set for Bacolod

Representatives from two of the teams participating in the Kampeon Cup, led by Anton del Rosario and Pau San Buenaventura of BGC, and Oliver Colina of Cebu. Also present are Ethan Lee of Palaro, and representatives from AIA: Kats Cajucom (Head of Health and Wellness) and Bernadette Chincuanco (Head of Branding & Comms)

The best seven-a-side footballers will be headed to Bacolod this weekend, as the second edition of the AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup takes place at the La Provincia Polo Field.

7s Football League founder and former Philippines international Anton del Rosario shares, "The AIA Vitality Kampeon Cup is a tournament that seeks to bring the best football players all over the country in a festival-type atmosphere where there are games for kids, a tournament for the youth, women’s, and men’s with the Kampeon Cup in between."

"We are happy the league has continued to make strides in the local football scene by expanding its scope from Pampanga, Manila and Palawan all the way to Cebu, Iloilo and Bacolod, giving even more Filipinos a chance to showcase their skills on a nationwide scale," says Kats Cajucom, AIA Philippines’ Head of Health and Wellness. "We are excited for Kampeon’s kick off in Bacolod, and look forward to helping Filipinos—young and old alike—live healthier, longer, better lives through our continued support of football."

The six-team field brings back three teams from the inaugural event back in 2019 in defending champions Cebu, hosts Bacolod, and BGC, which was then represented as Manila.

Cebu head coach Oliver Colina bared that they will be fielding an all-new crew from the Queen City, with thrice-a-week practices getting themselves up to speed.

Hosts Bacolod will be bringing back Stephan Schroeck into the fold, whilst BGC is looking to bounce back after losing in the final last time out. Pau San Buenvatura revealed that aside from Del Rosario, they will be beefed up by Lawrence Baguio of Maharlika FC and Marco Cauyong of Mendiola FC, as well as the El-Habbib brothers best remembered in the UFL.

Joining them as debutants are Pampanga, Iloilo and San Carlos.

A draw was staged to determine the pool participants, with BGC, Iloilo and Cebu drawn in Group A and Pampanga, San Carlos, and Bacolod in Group B.

A single round robin within each group will take place, with the top two teams advancing into the crossover semifinals. Winners will face off in the final.

Del Rosario believes that this will be the start of something big for seven-a-side football in the upcoming months, capped off with an international version of the Kampeon Cup. He says, "The goal for the Kampeon Cup is to be an international tournament where teams from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and others come over to participate. Now that will not only help the sport on a national level, but also foster better relations with our neighbors."

 He also adds that this is an opportunity to unearth untapped talent from across the country, "There’s a lot of talent outside of the city here which gets overlooked and we want to provide the opportunity to those talents across the country and put them on the pedestal where everybody can see them at the top level."