Beach Touch goes to MOA, Thailand

MANILA, Philippines - August will be a very busy month for Philippine touch football with a local tournament set at the Mall of Asia Sands by the Bay court and an international event lined up in Pattaya in Thailand.

The Beach Touch at the Sands will take place Sunday at Sands by the Bay, according to Federation of Touch Football Pilipinas (FTFP) development officer Aleth Feliciano.

“It’s our first event at the Sands (MOA) and we expect over a 100 participants,” said Feliciano during yesterday’s PSA Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

Also appearing in the forum presented by Shakey’s, Accel, Pagcor and San Miguel Corporation are Clair Barberis and Bianca Arco of FTFP.

On Aug. 29-30, FTFP will be represented by a young and vibrant team to the annual Asian Club Championship, a pure touch football event, in Pattaya.

The team known as the Philippine Cobras will be composed mostly of developmental players that will go up against teams from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China, Taiwan and Australia.

“We are sending less-experienced players as part of our commitment to improve our pool of players. But we still expect to win a few games. We hope to make it to the semis,” said Arco, pointing to Japan and Singapore as the teams to beat.

“We are hoping to challenge them,” said Arco, adding that the Philippines will play seven to eight games of full regulation in Pattaya.

Beach Touch, according to Barberis, is a “more social game than touch football” but because of the playing surface it gets “faster with a lot of diving and running.”

A dozen teams from around Manila, made up of locals and expats, will see action in Sunday’s event that comes after two successful legs at Anvaya Cove in Morong, Bataan, and Playa Laiya Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas.

“It’s because of the success of these two events that we decided to hold a third leg,” said Barberis.