11111 Rachel Ann M.

Castro 2010-20246

UP LEARNS HOW TO TOUCH A couple of years ago, a student was looking at a pub mat (publicity material) pinned on a bulletin board at the staircase. The poster says UP Touch Football Wants You. In his head, he asked, What in the world is UP Touch Football? This same student happened to pass by the Sunken Garden at about 4:30 in the afternoon. There were several students in cleats and high socks on the muddy field right in front of the grandstand, running within the territory they have enclosed in light orange cones. They were playing with a ball that looked pretty much like an American football, only it had round ends and was not brown but orange, white and blue. They were passing sideways, running forward and dumped the ball when a member of the opposing team gives them a tap and yells Touch. There were even more passing and running. One player catches the ball and dives at the end of their field with the ball in hand; an acting referee blows his whistle and shouts, Touchdown! A girl holding a camera approached the student and asked in a friendly tone, Hi! You want to join UP Touch Football? For the second time that day, he encountered these three words. A quick search on Google on what touch football is: It is a variation of American football. There are some differences in the rules like if a player drops the ball, the team loses possession and offense and defense

11112 are reversed. The distinct feature of touch football is that the offensive team has a chance to score only until they make a touchdown before getting touched six times by the defense. A touch is made when the defense touches the player in whatever part of the body, be it the shirt, the shorts, the hair or others. It is a sport with easy rules, thats for sure. What makes it fun are the tricks and surprising moves a player can make on the field. But how exactly did UP get touched? In the country, touch football is not as popular as staple sports like basketball and volleyball. Nomads Bullettes, established in February of 2005, was one of the first few teams established in the Philippines. Coach Allan McConnell was one of the founders of the team and in the same year, UP students started joining them. It was in February 2006 when two UP students, Aileen Rivano and Roan De Guzman, suggested to Coach McConnell, to make a demo of the sport to Rivanos College of Human Kinetics Sports Science class. The demo was warmly received by the students and so Coach McConnell decided to hold weekly trainings in the university. From this, the club was formed. In 2008, Coach Rey Gigataras who began as assistant coach to McConnell took over as Head Coach of Nomads Bullettes and UP Touch Football Club (UPTFC) which was then called UP Touch Rugby Club (UPTRC). Most of the first members of the club were players from the varsity track and field team. The Club is both a sports team and a social organization. Being the premiere and only university-based touch football organization in the country, I believe that all club members feel the pride of playing for their University and wearing the University colors and the Oble on their uniforms, says Coach Rey. For Faye de Leon, the incumbent womens team captain, her experience playing for the university gives her both honor and pressure making her give her best every game. It does not matter even if the university does not support the club the way it does other teams, Coach Rey wants the team to be self-sufficient and adds that his focus has always been on building the sport. Being a sports organization, the club trains weekly and joins tournaments. UPTFC gets to play against other touch football teams like International School Manila, Brent, Nomads Bullettes and other A-league

11113 clubs. Although there are some doubts expressed over the clubs focus on its performance on the field, Coach Rey believes that the club is achieving its primary purpose of becoming a competitive sports entity. As a social organization, it sure is doing a good job. Being a member myself, the Club undeniably knows how to make one feel that he or she belongs. De Leon says that there are several Touch experiences she considers remarkable. One would be her first training day with the club, she felt so welcomed when the members invited them to dinner even though they were just newbies. The second is her first tournament where she felt an incredible kind of teamwork that gives a feeling of optimal pressure. Lastly, winning over a club like Nomads Bullettes was the point where she felt that she has something to contribute to the team. All these experiences are proofs of how the Club can really touch livespun intended. The Club is not perfect. First of all, the sport is not very popular in the country so when we invite people to join, we go through the trouble of explaining the sport all the time. But it is not the kind of trouble that we hate, it is that kind of trouble which makes you feel that this is our sportwe know about it, we can play it and we fall in love with it every time we play. Secondly, it is not so easy to balance the existence of it as a social organization and as a sports entity. However, we try hard to become good in both aspects. What makes Touch special? Its the people, the game, the sense of belonging and accomplishment I feel, Matel Lazaro, the incumbent president of the club, said. In terms of promoting the sport, the club has indeed contributed largely to this mission. Its new, its fresh and its extraordinarily fun. Looking ahead, Coach Rey sees the Club as a growing center of development for the sport and becoming strong enough to hold its own international and intercollegiate competitions. Hopefully, he says, they can go on international tours once a year. For the members, they envision the future of the Club as a growing organization, one which will support other clubs and encourage sporty and non-sporty people to play. Lazaro sees that Touch, referring to both the club and the sport, has a lot of potential. She can imagine the sport becoming part of the UAAP games in the future, hundreds of teams joining and probably the

11114 Club even competing globally. As long as there are people in love with the sport, the Club will live, says de Leon. De Leon imparts a message to the future members of the Club and to the beginners in playing touch football, Keep playing, keep trying. Someday, youll get your chance to shine on the field and youll tell yourself, I love this sport. It will not be easy promoting the sport all over the Philippines. It will have to compete with several other mainstream sports and critics who think that it is not a Filipino thing. But, seeing how far the Club has grown, we are seeing a bright future aheadall because UP decided to take the touch and without hesitation, still dares to touch. Today, that student who once had no idea on what touch football is wears a smile on his face as the team gets up the stage to get their trophy as champions in the Mens Division. Now, this is UP Touch Football Club, he tells the rookie beside him. #