Aboitiz League

The first season of the Aboitiz League winds up this Sunday with Hiroshi taking on Crazy Horse FC -- the winner getting the right to represent Cebu in the regional finals.

The first few days of the Aboitiz League was a boring affair, with the top teams scoring easy routs.

If you were the CebuFA what changes would you inplement next year?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Stick with TWO DIVISIONS for men. This is vital in making football more accessible to lesser teams. However, some points must be taken into consideration. For instance, the CFA MUST CHOOSE to which division a team goes (not the other way around), based on the following, among others:

*the team's history (win-loss-draw record, titles, best finishes, etc.)

*a pre-season qualifying tourney, so "shoo-ins" can be avoided

The TWO DIVISION system is important, mainly because there are many teams that can't compete in the top division, but might do well in the second division (proof to this is the scores in many of the season's games). In this case, the relegation-promotion policy becomes important in the long run.

The CFA must make registration FORMS available so lesser teams without direct connection to CFA can register, intawon. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION is vital. The Aboitiz Cup had no such system. There is no website where teams can register, make inquiries or get important information about the league.
Anonymous said…
i agree..i think a lot of teams want to register for division b...
Anonymous said…
I agree with Karma. Keep Hiroshi, Crazy Horse, Don Bosco and the other team US something, in Div A. Get some of the good teams in Div B like Queen City, MetroFC etc up to Div A. And we will see a division with good teams, with lots of hard games, and it will be more exciting for both teams and fans of football.
Anonymous said…
i would put in restrictions in players transfers in order to prevent player "pirating".essentially,i would only allow first division teams to recruit a maximum of 4 players from other first division teams during the off-season.for example,if i was the crazy horse manager,i could only recruit a total of 4 players from either hiroshi,DBalumni or USJR after the league is done.

i would allow unlimited recruitment by a first division team from the ranks of the second division.i justify this stand with the intent that there will be a guaranteed fresh turnover of players every year.i percieved that most second division players will be fresh from high school.a year or two in second division will strenghten their bones and sharpen their skills,just enough for them to be ready for first division.

i will continue with the lowest two teams in first division to be relegated to second division after the season and vice-versa for the top two teams of the second division.opting to go down to second division by a first division team will not be allowed.if they insist then they will not be allowed to play in any divisions and be sanctioned.

i still have a lot in my mind but my boss is giving me the eye.i feel what has been proposed are simple and realistic measures that could be implemented if found meritious.

mike,thanks for opening this thread.
Anonymous said…
I was wondering. When it comes to the referees and the games, do they have a referee card where the two teams have listed the players that will play in that particular game? Where he also will list yellow cards, red cards and goals?
Anonymous said…
How is the system when it comes to transfers? Are there lot of paperwork, or is just to go to the other team and say that he wants to play for them, and its done?
Anonymous said…
Ronaldo, I think they already have rules in place..if your team gets relegated to division b...you cannot opt out to play in division a by transferring to another team. and yes the lower two in div. a gets demoted to div b, and the top two in div. b gets promoted.

teams who deserve to be in div a inlcude SRFC, QCU, Metropolitan...next year...i hope all five Cesafi teams can join the Aboitiz League..not one joined this year..only afew players from UV and USJ-R who are playing with Hiroshi and USj-R respectively
Anonymous said…
yep...they do have a starting list of both teams in every games..and they refs have thier cards to list down the cards and record are then kept...having covered football in 2000 and in 1997...the system now is actually better...despite the number of games...records are in order..

what is the problem though is the teams themselves have yet to learn to do things correctly..like listing the proper jerseys to the corresponding player...last sunday..two usj-r players had number 20 on..the goalkeeper and the midfielder..another guy wore a jersey that was the one listed on the starting list...so to keep record..they listed the name..not the jersey
Anonymous said…
the minimum number of first division teams should be 8 with a maximum of 9.a maximum number of 20 players should be listed at the start of the season and only these 20 can play for the team.a double round robin will mean a total of 14-18 gms per team.the format should be league type and not tournament type.

for second division, 8-10 teams would be ideal but should only be 1 round robin only for obvious financial reasons.new teams hoping to enter second division should have first played in a CFA organized or sanctioned football tournament or festival.this is to insure that there are no fly-by-night teams.

to ensure the financial stability of the league,and to further ensure the commitment of the teams,i would propose a one time registration fee of at least 10,000.00 pesos per division 1 team and 5,000.00 pesos per division 2 team to be placed in trust,recoverable if the team disbands.

league fees is another necessary expense so that the mens division will not take the major share of the pie from the CFA coffers.we have the age-groups to consider.men's teams should shell out an amount equivalent or close to the actual expenses of running the league,for the time being since we still lack sponsors.if we will have an 18gm schedule,with referees expenses at 600/gm divided by two teams means 300pesos officiating expense per team,multiplied by 18gms equals 5400.00pesos as actual expense per team per gm for officiating.basing on these calculations,a practical league fee of say 6000-8000 pesos would be enough to ensure the thread-bare operations of the league.

now for the skeptics,6000-8000 for an 18gm tournament is reachable.while we consistently claim that we play for the love of the game,the real world calls for expenses so that we can play the game we love.this point is not about the business side of the sport but about it's survival.when the time comes when we have large sponsors then maybe we can let go of the tournament fees,but we have to maintain the membership registration bond.

by paying this bond,we essentially become part owners of the league.the principal and interest from these combined bonds could may even allow us to lease,maintain or buy our own football field.it's a big dream but this is a practical and realistic first step.
Anonymous said…
i meant to emphasize that teams who should be in division 1 cannot anymore opt to play in division 2.the example here is queen city united.
Anonymous said…
I think they have some fees...i'll ask around...at the start of the preparations for the league..i think some of the teams agreed to shoulder the referees expenses..I woner what happened to that.
Anonymous said…
sorry,i meant to write 8-10 teams for division 1.
Anonymous said…
the suggestions are very doable and reasonable too, particularly on the revocable trust fund. i really hope the CFA seriously considers these ideas
Anonymous said…
mike, dont know where to post this but feel free to transfer it to a more appropriate thread.

as for the age-groups,i would first establish what brackets should have tournaments instead of changing it year-after-year (example,the P9 last year and the absence of the U14 in the aboitiz cup last year and this year).i feel P10,P12,U14,U16 and P17 should have their own tournaments organized by the CFA and not just depend on other tournaments like the city olympics,milo olympics,CVIRAA,RedRibbon and others.

we should make certain that all teams get to play against each other and not be bracketed.that way,more games played will most likely translate into better development of skills and tactics.

P10 and U14 playrs are forced to play in P12 and U16 becoz there are no tournaments for them.i feel that this is a bad decision by the CFA.

except for P10 and below (P6 and P8), the format should be 11-a-side.P10 can either be 7-a-side or 9-a-side.

i still am not a fan of football festivals so i would insist that we should implement the tournament type format for the age groups.the festival format however would be perfect for the P6,P7 and P8,but we have to make it a once every one or two month affair.

right now,there is a big let-down in the number of tournaments or games after the P12 bracket (im refering to the U14's and U16's).in my opinion,it is during this stage when most boys have growth spurts or become interested in other sports.guys, we have to find ways for these kids at this stage to continue playing football or else we run the risk of loosing them to other sports (rather a selfish attitude on my part but hey,im a football fanatic,not a basketball nut,so bear with me).

i would start the football season for age-groups earlier,preferably july.scheduling the start of age-group tournaments after january would affect the kid's academic performance since it would be approaching final exams.

scheduling the tournaments for only two brackets at the same time was a great decision on the part of the CFA.i would continue the P12 and U16 schedule together, then the P10,U14 and P17 next.preferably all tournaments will be over by january.

if the mens league becomes self-supporting,then we can splurge,if possible,on the age groups.however,if field and officiating expenses are too high, that is if we base our tournaments on the proposal above, then we have to bite the bullet and seriously consider tournament or registration fees for the age-groups.as to how much will depend on the number of games played per team.

we have to be realistic about our financial status.we need and want more games,but field rentals and officiating fees has gone up.the sooner we can get the schools together and discuss the financial side of football,the sooner we will get over this particular hump.
Anonymous said…
This is kinda stupid, but what is P10 and so on?

Players usually dont play 11-a-side before theyre 13-14. And i think thats how it should be. Its better to wait until they reach that age.
Until they reach that age, 7-a-side is the most common.
Anonymous said…
MikeH
p10 refers to the Players 10, it's called as such, and not boys 10 or girls 10, because it's a mixed team. u 12 or 14 refer to the under 12 and under 14s which could be a boys u 12, or a girls u 12..for brevity, organizers just refer to it as g 12, b 12...and for the mixed as p 10
Anonymous said…
i need to take something back regarding the putting up of a bond for the men's league.on second thought,it shouldn't be refundable/recoverable, if it is intended as capital for an expense like the procurement or lease of a field of our own.if teams agree to put up a bond then as an enticement,these teams should enjoy a discount on future tournament fees.teams who shall not put up a bond will have to shell out more in tournament fees.

we have to be creative with regards the financial side.we have to endure these birth pangs if we intend to have a league that will last.
Anonymous said…
Mike,
I understand now. I just found it strange. Had it been here in Norway, P10 would mean girls 10. So i thought maybe that was it, but i was wrong.
Anonymous said…
THE SYSTEM NEED ONE STRONG DIVISION.. LATER a 2nd DIVISION can be established..

WILL do MY BEST THAT NEXT YEAR only 1 DIVISION WITH 16
TEAMS WILL PARTICIPATE ( by HOME and AWAY GAMES )..

EVERY CLUB/TEAM has TO REGISTER THE PLAYERS and has TO FIX a HOME-VENUE!

TEAMS like DON BOSCO SHOULD HELP TEAMS WHO CAN NOT EASILY GET a HOME-FIELD..

SO a TEAM like DON BOSCO has TO HELP POORER TEAMS!

IF ABOITIZ NOT WANT TO CHANGE THE FORMAT ( means 2 DIVISIONs WITH NOT FIXING HOME and AWAY GAMES ).. THEN
an ADDITIONAL LEAGUE SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED!
Anonymous said…
cebu only have a handful of fields,thus the home and away format won't be applicable.existing fields that has hosted tournaments here are only the city sports complex, usc-talamban field, san roque, Sacred Heart-ayala and don bosco. now, the only fields suited for men's competition, as far as minimum field dimensions (50mts x 100mts) are concerned, are only city sports complex and usc.san roque would be a stretch but could also be an option.sacred heart and don bosco are too small for men's competition.field play would be too restricted on these fields.

so if we were to adopt a home and away format (assuming of course that the fields can be used), only usc/queen city (talamban field), hiroshi/UV/UC (city sports complex)and SRFC/crazy horse (san roque) will have a home field. that would also be confusing since preferably, only one team should call a field it's "home field".

cebu football's main logistical problem is the lack of football fields. forcing a home and away format simply will not work as of the present. should the league be set up and put into motion, the most practical option would be to have games played on two venues,perhaps usc-talamban and of course, abellana field.
Anonymous said…
the two-tier (division 1 and division 2) format is ideal for cebu football because as far as the men's open are concerned, there is a big gap between the strong teams and the decently competitive teams. we have the college and well-funded teams on one hand and the week-end warriors on the other. as of now, we simply dont have the numbers to back up a competitive 1 division league. the weekend warriors will more probably just give up and hang up their spikes because they are being fed weekly as fodder to the stronger teams.

the bottom two down and the top two up is a great incentive in a two division league. it gives all the teams the drive to play their best on every game because no team wants to be relegated and all teams wants the distinction and honor of being classified as one of cebu's premier teams.

lastly,Aboitiz only sponsors the league, it is the CFA who does the organizing and determines the format. I now give the floor to MikeH and Baldur to react to CFA-Manager (has he proven he is not a fake?) who has brought his rantings against don bosco to this forum.

sorry about that cfa-manager stuff guys, but this fake just doesnt know when to stop.
Anonymous said…
There is no point of having 16 teams in one division now. Why? The gap between the good teams and less good teams are to big. Its not good when half of the teams lose with more than 10 goals half of their games. It will be boring for the less good teams to lose, lose and only lose. And it wont be exciting for the fans. There are to many lesser teams, and they shouldnt be in a division with all the good teams. In the future it should be possible to have 16 teams, but the all teams should be good, forcing lesser teams to play against the top notch teams twice and loosing 8-1, 15-0 and so on wont help the lesser team.
Anonymous said…
HOME and AWAY FIELDS are available if TEAM shares FIELDS ( in BUNDESLIGA it HAPPENS also.. FOR EXAMPLE BAYERN MUNICH shares HIS FIELD ( called ALLIANZ ARENA )
NOW WITH 2nd DIVISION TEAM 1860 MUNICH and also WITH THE NATIONAL TEAM..

ALSO BERLIN shares his HOME-FIELD!

SO NO PROBLEM.. IF ALSO CSCST-FIELD esp. be used!

ONE DIVISION is MUCH BETTER so THAT UNEXPERIENCED PLAYER GET MORE EXPWERIENCE ( mor GAMES ) and TOP-TEAMS
GET MORE PRACTICE ( in GERMANY a CLUB LIKE BAYERN MUNICH has TO PERFORM in POKAL-ROUND also LOW LEVELED clubs ( class 4 or lower )..

SO ALL PROTESTS BEFORE are NOT really SERIOUS bec.. IT SHOWS THAT a TOP-TEAM like BAYERN MUNICH is a WORLD TOP-TEAM even they share FIELDS WITH OTHERS and has TO PERFORM VERY LOW LEVELED COMPETITORS!!!!!!..

BTW:

THE LOCAL TOP TEAM HIROSHI FC ( DIVISION 1 ABOITIZ LEAGUE ) has a SIMILAR OPINION like
FC INTER CEBU ( DIVISION 2 ABOITIZ LEAGUE ) in THIS CASE!
Anonymous said…
I dont think a 16 team league is suitable for cebu football. we need the two division format. like ronaldo said there are only a few fields in Cebu and for teams to share even one field is not only impractical but stupid. you think USC will share its TC field with another team?

It's the property of the school, football there doesnt rank high in the priorities. If they have activities then they will need to use the field..bye bye shared home..same here with the CEbu City Sports center field. When was it last used for football? ditto with SHS-J -- it doubles as a driving range.

CFA-manager, you can't just deflect the criticisms away just because a top club like bayern munich does that, or this is how it is done in Germany.

For your info...this is Cebu, the Philippines.

So if your plan of a 16-league team will not be supported by the aboitiz, you plan to put up a new league? Home and away? Jeez, I will worship the ground you walk if that happens.

You want to say to the lone supporter of football in Cebu for a long time....this is how we want to do it...if you dont want it..then see you, we will put up our own league.

You still have a lot to learn about Cebu football and Cebu culture.
Anonymous said…
division 2 also has a another,more important function-to maintain a mass base of support and supporters for the sport.

to be honest,a very small percentage of cebu players are truly gifted.division 2 was meant for those who are as passionate with the sport as the talented ones.division 2 essentially is the breeding ground for our future players becoz most division 2 participants are young fathers.nothing better will encourage a young child to play football than watching his own father or uncle play the sport.

from this perspective,division 2 can be viewed as a marketing tool.most division 1 players have to depend on their clubs and schools in order to buy new spikes,uniforms,shin guards etc.adidas,nike,mizuno etc. should now take a look at division 2 playrs.although ,perhaps less talented, these are the players who have disposable income they can use on football gear. hey CFA, thats a marketing ploy that has just been proposed.by creating a division that spends their own cash for football gear, the league becomes more attractive to potential sponsors.

like i said,we have to be creative with our finances.division 2 is a stone that can hit two birds in one throw.
Anonymous said…
Mike. It has nothing to with culture; just basic rational thought.

While it would be nice if an institution shares its field (Don Bosco, Cebu City Sports Center, San Roque, etc.) people must realize the guest teams can only use the facilities only through the largesse of the owners. What this means is that other teams may only use the field if the owner has no current use for it. Because of that you cannot plan a home and away league format without the guaranteed use of a field at a pre-determined date. For example, you plan a league game for San Roque FC at the San Roque Parish football field. What happens if the parish priest decides to hold some religious celebration at the field just on the day itself? The teams, league, and CFA have no legal claim to the use of the field. If I remember correctly, San Roque only accepts donations not real payments (which I think would mean the parish is obligated to let the teams use it at pre-agreed dates and time).
Anonymous said…
Your intentions for a 16 team league, are good, for more games...but i don't think that's the option for now...we just started the two division league...and we will abolisth it after just one year?

I still go for the two division, eight teams per division...
Anonymous said…
ronaldo...

i never saw it that way...that's a good idea though...but the guys with disposable incomes are not yet in in Div. 2, there were plans to include the call center teams in Div. 2 but that hasnt been fulfilled..the other rich guys are in the 35 above bracket...


I agree baldur...we can only knock at the doors of the owners of these fields..and sometimes...they have everyright to slam it at our face...we can never demand that don bosco, usc, shs-j open their field for football...

what i believe we can do however, is lobby for the CCSC to be made available for football..it has been months since a game was last played there...the field is now better..except for that huge stage which is sure to leave some marks..but initial talks have it that the field will be dismantled after the sinulog..which gives us 11 months for football...or ten if you put in a month of rehabing the field...the grass is ok...but debris is still there.
Anonymous said…
Mike,

I wouldn't go so far as to say "slam the door in your face." Hehehe.
Anonymous said…
How about denial of affection?
Anonymous said…
i stand corrected,the guys with significant disposable incomes are the 35 above.most division 2 players are the ones with a decent enough income who can probably spend 1-2thou a year for football gear.still,add those two together multiplied by 200-250 division 2 players and we still see a significant amount of money spent for football gear.it's economics 1 all over again - demand and supply.i hope CFA can tap football suppliers and present it that way.

i think councilor jakosalem,alcoseba and carillo has publicly stated their support for the sport.jonathan guardo is a believer of sports while ricky ballesteros is very reasonable when approached by the right people.having CCSC at the least possible expense should be prioritize.however,the first step towards that is for the CFA to present their program showing how significant and important and vital the CCSC is to the football community.it has to start with the CFA.
Anonymous said…
i find it confusing why certain people keep insisting that the only way that we can solve our problem of game venues is for the "rich" schools to open up their fields to the "poor" schools and clubs.

it should be asked how many football players these so-called "rich" schools have using and practicing on their field.30,40,100,500,1000? if your football program has only 50-100 players then it MIGHT be good sense in your part to offer your field for CFA tournaments.

BUT, if your football program has 500-1000 players using the field day after day,week after week, then by no means should you be pressured to open up your field to more activities. why - because field time for the individual teams will be shortened just to accomodate a additional groups, there will be no possibility to properly maintain the field, and the other school activities will be sacrificed. as Baldur and Mike has written, football games takes backseat to more important school activities.

What CFA-Manager (he still hasn't proven his authenticity) seems to be doing is transfering the problem of field availability to the schools when what he (that is if he really is an official of the CFA) and the CFA should be doing is to procure a field or get a long-term lease on a property that could be used as a field or get into a long term agreement with CCSC for the use of the field. Cmon guys, the schools are already doing their part in football development-they do,after all, have football teams-so don't blame these schools or place the burden on them. CFA-manager and his cohorts has singled out don bosco but try to count the number of players don bosco has participating in tournaments.do you seriously think their field can accomodate more players?

Paul, if you are truly with the CFA in an official capacity then let me address this to you so you can pass it on to the board so you can act on it since this is your job - go get a field we can call our own. don't run around yakking like an old faggot and blame other sectors for your shortcomings. you wanted the job, you demanded for this job, you voted yourselves into this job and now you want others to do your job.

that simply isn't right.

Paul, show us the OFFICIAL CFA PROGRAM showing the long-term path we should take so we can start to improve cebu football. Tell us if there isn't any so at least we can be fully honest with each other.

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