It’s all about promoting and expanding football at the grassroots.
The Philippines Youth Football League (YFL) has announced that Davao Aguilas will be the league’s sponsor. The announcement came March 20 during a press conference held at the Marriott Hotel in Manila.
From left: YFL VP Candice Grey, YFL Chair Christopher Hagedorn, YFL President Miguel Atayde, Davao Aguilas Chair Jefferson Cheng, Davao Aguilas President Francis Go, and Davao Aguilas GM Michael Shaw with Davao Aguilas FC players in the background (photo, Top Trending Topics Philippines)
Davao Aguilas FC, which was founded in 2017, is a member of the Philippines Football League (PFL). In its second year with six teams, the PFL is the top professional football league in the Philippines.
The league will be known as Davao Aguilas Youth Football League. The league will launch play on Sunday, April 8, at Alabang Country Club in Muntinlupa.
According to the YFL Chairman Christopher Hagedorn, Davao Aguilas’ sponsorship of a youth football league is the first of its kind in The Philippines. “We’ve never had a sponsorship like that with youth football,” Hagedorn said.
One aim of the YFL has been to provide a higher-level platform for club teams, especially those that are based in the Luzon region. With Davao Aguilas’ sponsorship, there’s hope of expanding that platform to other parts of the Philippines, including Visayas and Mindanao.
“We want to establish pools in Visayas and Mindanao and create a tournament that can be centralized in Luzon, Visayas, or Mindanao,” Davao Aguilas General Manager Michael Shaw said.
The approach will bolster youth participation. “In the first year of YFL 1800 kids took part in the league. This season we’ll have more than 2200 participants,” YFL President Mike Atayde said.
It’s all about promoting and expanding football at the grassroots.
