Dear All,

2 Part Letter, Important Futsal Tournament is 1, and Tsismis and Market News is 2.   

Cheers!

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1.

I am very happy to announce that the Grand Prix Competition Concept will be applied for an NCRFA wide tournament this summer. I would like to cordially invite all NCRFA Registered Members and "Welcome Interested Guests" to the organizational meeting on MARCH 18, 5:30PM, PSC AUDIO VISUAL ROOM. This is in Ultra, Pasig, near the building where PFF holds office. This is a Competition that will have 3 age groups, Seniors Men ( A & B), Women's Open, and Under-18 Boys.

The Tournament Concept is as follows:

The Grand Prix Concept:

This is a combination of activities. Based on Formula One, multiple legs of one-day festival competition would all be tied in together to form a series, which each team and individual that strives, getting what they deserve for cumulative efforts.

The Grand Prix Concept can be used for either of two things. The first is an introductory competition that teaches people the game through repetition at a pace that can be easily absorbed. Futsal is like any other game. It has to be learned over a decent period of time. Learning would be difficult if the teams were to immediately play league style because of the duration of the games and also the crucial aspect of making errors influencing the overall result at the beginners level. The second is that it can also be used as a cost effective marketing tool for a full competition by itself, that can cater to a lot of teams in a short period of time.

The flow of the series would be holding Futsal Festivals once every weekend for the duration of at least 3 weeks/legs. Each of the team that participates gets a point. Each team performing, gets a corresponding point. Each individual that shines gets awarded. Each match day, a leg-winner would be awarded. The overall championship and awards though, only happen after the whole tour has finished and scores are compiled. This can be done in a venue that has no less than 3 Futsal Courts, participated by no less than 12 teams using modified rules (Especially in the aspect of game duration).

Please send your team managers or representatives, we shall discuss the following items:

Tournament format and dates

Suggestions from interested parties

Other Futsal Matters for the good of the game and its development

Feel free to contact me directly at my email addresses:

jm.david@... and guedavid@...

or on my mobile, 09178968648 for further clarifications. If you need a fax to serve as an official invitation, please inform me immediately so that it may be sent to whomever it may concern.

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2. Aside from these matters, a lot of things have been happening in Futsal.

Phillippines: 

The National Tryouts has yielded a final list of 20. They are preparing for the World Cup Qualifiers/Asian Championship that is to be held in Macau this April. Our country's opponents in the preliminary round are the following: Japan, Krygystan, Lebanon and Macau. On behalf of the Futsal Group, I wish them all the best.

NCRFA:

The two international standard sized private Futsal Courts that were due to open in February have been delayed because of fine-tuning the workmanship. Rest assured they will be completed on April and I will inform everyone the steps and packages available for partaking in them.

Equipment:

The store in Megamall named "Studs" beside Mizuno, famous for selling Espadrills has brought in Diadora. The have Futsal shoes at P2,000.

Any store that carries Umbro, like Toby's and the former Royal Sporting House in Glorietta and Rockwell now carry a Futsal shoe for the price of P1,500.

Adidas has unveiled to me their lineup for the year and it is impressive, watch out, they are coming in with full force for Futsal! Right now in their Megamall branch, they have 2 variants of their Futsal Balls. I will review the equipment in the future but please do take a look for yourselves!

Sonia Trading, the distributor of Mikasa and Molten now has Futsal Balls. They are available at P1,000. Any interested parties are free to inquire from them or any of their distributors. If you have any difficulty, feel free to ask and I can direct you to these people.

Overall, the work we have all put into Futsal is bearing fruit. I mentioned 2 years ago that the barriers to launching this sport is the equipment availability. With the dawn of these manufacturers and distributors taking a greater interest, the barrier has finally been broken and it is up to us on how we can push this beautiful game derived from the mother game further. After all, Futsal is more than a game, its a culture that nothing can or will stop us from playing and having responsible fun!!!

Ciao!

- Miguel G. David

The Futsal Group and NCRFA Futsal Coordinator