By: Miguel La Torre
ALL SMILES. Letran Football team stands firm despite their dreadful campaign. Photo by Angela Davocol.
The Letran Seniors Football team dropped their anchor in the NCAA Season 94 Football Tournament. The team, composing of rookie players, were happy with their campaign despite finishing last, losing all their games, and failing to score a goal in the duration of the
tournament.
Despite finishing the tournament at the bottom of the standings, Letran football head coach Joy Dimacali remained positive with the outcome of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football tournament.
The team dropped all their games in the elimination and failed to score a single goal in the duration of the tournament.
Still, Dimacali praised his wards’ optimistic attitude despite the obstacles that hindered the team’s campaign. The resurgence of the Letran seniors football team was paraded by an all first-year roster which obviously derailed their season.
“Masyadong bata ‘yung team, all freshmen eh kasi hindi naman makapag recruit ng second year unless meron ng mahusay na player na already staying tapos half of the team pa are younger than the high school. Experience-wise rin ang ibang teams, but with regards to attitude, wala akong masabi sa team natin,” said Dimacali.
Coming into the season, Dimacali recognized that his team is extremely young and inexperienced compared to the other teams, that is why he already set a target for his team to reach — put up a fight and not concede more than nine goals.
“Expected naman na namin na hindi tayo makakakuha ng maayos na pwesto, top four hindi rin. Ang target namin kahit paano is lumaban; wag pa-patambak, wag umabot sa double digits ang lamang.,” he stated.
“Para sa akin na-achieve naman ‘yun. Hindi naman nag double digits. Ang average conceded goals per game is 5. Ang mga talo lang naman namin madalas is 0-3, 0-4. Ang pinaka tambak lang is against San Beda and Arellano which is 0-9,” Dimacali said.
But despite all that, the attitude and the heart showed by his determined players were more than just a single win— it meant everything.
“Sa akin, decent na ‘yung pinakita ng mga bata. ‘Yung iba merong injury pero kaya pa, laro pa. Happy ako dun sa naging performance.
They delivered when it mattered and they exceeded my expectations,” the AB Economics alumnus happily claimed.
“Kahit na talo, tuwang-tuwa sila. Sinasabi nila sa akin na ang ganda ng laro nila, may improvement. Ang maganda sa kanila alam nila kung
kailan maganda ang depensa kasi nae-enjoy nila ang ginagawa nila,” he added.
For now, the team’s priority is to catch up what they missed in academics. But this past Season 94 is all but a lesson learned for the young
football team.
“It’s a learning stage for the coaches, for the players, inside and outside football,” he said.
“Ngayon kasi, kailangan namin bantayan ang mga grades, student first before maging athlete. Hopefully by next year, mag improve, magkaroon ng isang win, and lumaban lang,” Dimacali ended.
(First published on The LANCE's Jan-Feb 2019 Issue)