Cebu booters eye crown in Under-17 regional football

The best Under-17 squad in the Visayas will be known over the weekend when the PFF Visayas Regional Football Championships takes place at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit Football field located at the Cebu Business Park from July 28-30.

The regional action will be three-way battle featuring the best of Cebu, Negros Occidental and Iloilo.

There were other bidders to host the event, but Cebu won the chores through the efforts of the Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) led by its president Jonathan "Maxi" Maximo.

Paref-Springdale, under coach Mario Ceniza, will be representing Cebu after winning last year's Aboitiz Cup-Under-15 event.

Negros and Iloilo also had their own selection process, but their line-up including the one from Cebu will only be known during the press conference this afternoon at 5 p.m. at the Asilo dela Milagrosa, which is also the billeting quarter of the visiting squads.

"CebuFA does not meddle with the selection of the team members. But we believe coach Mario Ceniza has already prepared for this event. We told the participating teams in the Aboitiz Cup last year that whoever wins will get to represent Cebu in the regional finals," Maximo said.

The best of the Visayas action will then represent the region in the National Championships. The finale for the Under-17, however, is yet to be known.

In a related development, the Aboitiz Women's Open Football Cup resumes at the San Roque Football Field.