A Growing Rugby Community in the Philippines.

 
Rugby football union is thriving and is now gaining interest in schools across Metro Manila. And leading real estate advisory firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Philippines intends to support this growth by encouraging a more active community of players and supporters of this sport. 
            
CBRE Philippines recently hosted the CBRE Juniors Rugby Tournament, at the British School Manila field. This is the second consecutive year CBRE successfully hosted this tournament together with the Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU)—the governing body of rugby football union in the Philippines. The tournament gathered eight teams and more than a hundred players from different institutions and is the largest youth rugby football tournament in the country. Participating teams included the Makati Mavericks, the Manila Hapons, British School Manila, Eagles Rugby, European International School, Bahay Bata, Tuloy, and Duyan.
“We want to lay the groundwork of awareness and interest of the sports among Filipinos, especially the youth. Through this tournament and other efforts geared toward the promotion of this sport, we hope to provide more opportunities for our teams to gain international recognition,” Rick Santos, CBRE Chairman and CEO said.  Rick Santos shares a passion for the sport, having first-hand experience as a former football player for UC Berkeley and as a former rugby player for the Harlequins in London and for Oxford University.

Matthew Cullen, national coach of PRFU adds, “Filipinos have a great agility, great hand-eye coordination, great speed, and teamwork, which are traits excellent rugby football players possess.”

True enough, while rugby union initially developed in the Philippines through expatriates residing in the country, PRFU is now able to field 100% Filipino heritage players in the Philippine National Team or the “Philippine Volcanoes”. The Philippine Volcanoes now plays in both female and male categories (Men’s 15s, Men’s Under 20s, Men’s 7s, Women’s 15s, and Women’s 7s) and is becoming known in the international rugby community. The team has risen to the top of the Asian 5 Nations Rugby Tournament in just a span of two years—starting in Division 4 in 2008 and now retaining a spot in Division 1 rankings.         



The achievements of the national team are being sustained by PRFU and with CBRE as a major youth rugby sponsor by supporting and grooming players from youth organizations such as the Bahay Bata, Tuloy, and Duyan.  And indeed, the youth rugby community is showing huge potentials in competing internationally. In a recent invitational practice game by the Clifford College in England to Bahay Bata. Bahay Bata U14 A-team won one out of two matches with a 20-0 score during the first match and a 20-20 draw on a second match.

For Neil Garcia, forward player of Bahay Bata team, playing rugby has widened his horizons by being given better opportunities to hone his skills and to travel abroad. "The game in England was delightful. We were able to go to different places. And it made me realize that no matter how tough the game may be—I want to compete in more rugby football games with teams in other countries”, he shares.

Separately, Rick Santos and William Brown, high school principal of the International School Manila, also co-founded a rugby training camp for children under 6, under 8, under 10, under 12, and under 14. This is held every Sundays, from 9 AM to 11 AM at the Colegio San Agustin Field. At present, the camp has over 33 members and is called the Makati Mavericks.

William Brown said, “The club is aimed to gather youths who are interested to attain proper training not only to excel in such sport, but to eventually develop a solid young Filipino Rugby Football Union that would put the Philippines on top of the global sports arena.”

 Of this, Kristine Puno, a mother to three boys who are playing for the Makati Mavericks, said, “We allow our kids to play this sport to let them realize for themselves the benefit of being in a team and to let them build more relationships with their peers and other people.”

For Mr. Santos, promotion of the rugby in the Philippines not only forms an integral part of CBRE’s corporate social responsibility initiatives but also shows how confident CBRE is in the athletic abilities of the Filipino youth. “The Filipinos’ determination to excel is truly admirable, and we are more than willing to help them become great players,” Santos shares.  

Source:http://psep.tv/sports-sample.php?id=50236