Claret opens football module

With the World Cup fever in the air, the fabled Claret Football Center opened the first of its four-phase teaching module at the Diliman school grounds last weekend with 7-8:30 morning sessions every Saturday and Sunday up to Aug. 12.

Program head is multi-titled youth mentor Bob Salvacion, the only coach to win in the Rizal Football Association (RIFA) high school open, the Palarong Pambansa in the secondary division, the United Football League, the NCR Football Association in the youth division and the UAAP men’s tournament.  His staff includes assistants Benj Anicete, Ayr Acejas and Outkast players Airene Decene and Mary Claire Igarta.

Salvacion is an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) instructor who regularly conducts different levels of coaching license courses in the country with another former Claretian, Philippine Football Federation technical director and former Meralco coach Aris Caslib.  Former national player and Davao Agilas coach Marlon Maro also joins Salvacion and Caslib in the coaching clinics.

Owing to his Palarong Pambansa championship experience, Salvacion was tapped as Manila’s team consultant for this year’s event.  He brought in Claret winger Edmund Venus to reinforce Manila, represented by the NU junior team of coach Mari Abserasturi.  Manila defeated Socsargen, 1-0, in the Vigan final. 

Claret, a private Catholic elementary and high school, is well-known for its football program.  Last month, Claret won the Jollibee and PLDT-sponsored NCR Football Association U15 championship, beating the Makati Football Club in the final, 5-0.  In the semis, Claret downed heavily-favored La Salle Zobel, 5-4, after two extra time periods.  Florenz Tacardon took MVP honors while teammate Lorenz Mateo was named the tournament’s best striker with 12 goals.

Aside from Tacardon and Mateo, the other Claret championship players were Rain Castro, Nico Dimatulac, Joaquin Arevalo, Gio Estrada, Patrick Lim, Ethan Garcia, Kevin Arizabal, Gab Ramos, Jenwil Salomon, Christian Biscarra, Fidel Singson, Allen Ramos, Paolo Canet and Zandy Igarta.

Claret also figured prominently in the NCR U9 division, finishing second.  The youngest of five Tacardon brothers, Filbert, won his second straight best striker award with 31 goals in the course of the competition.  Some of the U9 players were on the Claret squad that won the RIFA and NCR Football Association titles in the same age group last year.  The Claret lineup listed Filbert Tacardon, Uno Dimatulac, Lemuel Rarang, Javi Peredo, Enzo Darang, Jacob Monte, Joaquin Boquiron, Timothy Paner, Emmanuel Gragasin, Michael Lacuarta, Vincent Delgado, Yuri de Ramon, Ethan Flores, Ali Corporal and Ethan Vela.

In the U13 division, Claret placed third with a lineup composed of MJ Uy, Jeremy Dizon, Robbie Torres, Gavril Gilbert, Joed Plenos, John Maiquez, Miguel Sadang, Maverick Luna, Nathan Yruma, Jessie Cammayo, Johan Nortiga, Raprap Diaz, Mark Simon, Raiken Comla, Brazil Beaniza, Charles Santos, Haidyn Sante and Anthony Reyes.  Claret also made the RIFA high school open final while the U13 team took third in the Midgets “B” category.

The Claret Football Center has also been developing young female football players.  The Claret Football Center girls team has won championships in the AFC Monfort Cup, Diliman Cup and Mendiola Cup.  Former UAAP Rookie of the Year and best striker Mary Rose Obra of UP is the Claret girls head coach with Alyssa Ube as assistant.  National youth players Rachelle Sanciangco and Alyanna Yatco and former RIFA girls MVPs Cara Cachero and Monica Anicete lead the roster.

In the recent UAAP men’s football final won by UP over UST, the Maroons paraded seven former Claretians led by Rookie of the Year Fidel Tacardon, Ray Sanciangco, Karl Bugayong, Patrick Dizon, Harel Dayan, John Abraham and Kenneth Cammayo.  UP coach Anto Gonzales and UST Tigers assistant coach Carlo Santiago were Salvacion products at Claret.

The success of the Claret football program is largely due to the all-out support of Rev. Fr. Santiago Gonzalez, a diehard Real Madrid fan, school director Fr. Maurico Ulep and human resource manager/chaplain Fr. Christopher Ligason.  Among the notable athletes produced by Claret are current PBA players J. C. Intal and Ponzo Gotladera, former PBA head coach Ricky Dandan, three-time Southeast Asian Games poomsae gold medalists Dustin and Raphael Mella, former UAAP basketball players Mac and Japs Cuan, football players Marco Casambre and Kurt Alvarez, trap shooter Hagen Topacio and sportscaster James Velasquez.