BUTUAN CITY (April 25, 2014) – The 4th Balangay Football Festival have been slated to be held on May 24-25, 2014 at the Butuan City Sports Complex in Brgy. Libertad as part of Butuan City’s month-long celebration of the Balangay Festival according to Agusan del Norte First District Representative Lawrence “Law” Fortun who is also the President of the host Butuan-Agusan Norte Football Association (BANFA).
According to the solon, this year’s football festival promises to be bigger compared to the previous holding as it has gained prestige and popularity in the football community. He added that “we are expecting at least 100 teams coming from all over Mindanao and hopefully from the Visayas who will participate in the 2-day festival.” Fortun also revealed that with the number of players that will be coming over for the tournament, this will be a boost to the effort of the city government to promote tourism in the city as they will also get to witness the celebration of the Balangay Festival.
The football festival will feature categories in consonance with the grassroots development thrust of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) for which the festival is sanctioned, namely: under 6 years old (mix), under 8 years old (mix), under 10 years old (mix), under 12 years old (mix), under 14 years old (boys), under 16 years old (boys and girls), men’s and women’s open, and 35 years old and above.
In a related development, Fortun also announced that BANFA will be sending its grassroots training pool composed of 12 year-old and under players to the Regional Festival of Football (FoF) Training in Malaybalay, Bukidnon from April 25-27, 2014 organized by the PFF. “This is will be a very good venue for our players to hone their skills further and become more competitive even as young as they are,” Fortun said.
Lawig Katawhan