Mindanaotoday.com | Former UP footballer willing to lead NOFA
By: Jack Biantan
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental – Negros Occidental Football Association (NOFA) once was one of the most active and strong local FA in the country, will get a shot on the arm soon after a young football leader announced his willingness to lead the association and bring back its old glory.
San Carlos City Football Club Vice President Jose Miguel ‘Miggy’ Valmayor wants to share the success of football development of San Carlos City to the entire province of Negros Occidental.
NOFA was one of the most active FA in the country when Ricky Yanson Jr. was president until he ran for the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president against incumbent Nonong Araneta in 2019 and lost.
Since losing to Araneta, Ricky has become in-active with the FA ever since. With the vacuum of leadership, the football community in Negros Occidental are now in quandary on who is running the sport in the province.
Ricky Yanson Jr. through his local representatives has given the go signal that NOFA could start looking for a new president to rule the sport in the province.
That is why the youthful Miggy Valmayor, son of former San Carlos City mayor and currently Negros Occidental 1st District Representative Gerardo Valmayor Jr., is willing to help the sport he loves in his home province.
Miggy declared his intention to run as the new NOFA president once the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) gives the red light to hold the election anytime this year before the PFF election in November.
By the way aside from the son of a prominent politician in Sugarlandia, who is Miggy Valmayor?
Jose Miguel ‘Miggy’ Valmayor is the third child of Negros Occidental 1st District Representative Gerardo Valmayor Jr. and Rose Madeliene Wee.
Since childhood, he has been playing football in San Carlos City. He then played for University of St. La Salle in Bacolod under the late Nene Lazarito where he was the main striker of the 2007 Western Visayas Elementary Palaro champion team.
He was also a member of the 2007 U13 and the 2008 U14 national team under Master Kim and coach Vince Santos. In 2008, bad luck struck him as he met an accident and stopped playing his beloved sport for two years.
He resumed his football varsity years with USLS where he finished high school. Miggy then tried his talents at UP where he became a varsity player and where he also studied and finished his Tourism course at the Asian Institute of Tourism in UP Diliman in 2017.
Miggy also has an online degree in Finance from Harvard University which he finished during the pandemic in 2021.
The 28-year-old football fanatic admits that football in San Carlos City has been there since he was a small kid. “San Carlos City has been like this ever since. The programs now that we have been handling and organizing, we’re just improving it every year,”he said.
He said that he has spearheaded recently more development programs to improve the skills of their young players. “We just hosted the Real Madrid Foundation and brought in two coaches and another coach from the Real Madrid Academy,” he said.
They also have their year round leagues, football festivals and local academies. “With the help of the Local Government Units all these projects are free for the kids to avail,’’ he said.
He also said that their Youth Football Leagues would last for three months and competition is among club and school teams. “Our local teams and clubs are free to join the competitions,” he said.
Miggy is also proud to announce that San Carlos City has 12 local academies plus the schools for kids to learn how to play the beautiful game and the football pitches are available for free year round.
Aside from their programs for the youth, San Carlos City also has programs for the not so young anymore. They have their Men’s Open 7-Aside tournament where they hold their competition in their brand new 7-aside turf football field. “Teams pay only P2,000 for the whole league. We also have two divisions,” he said.
Miggy admits that it will be a challenge if he gets the NOFA seat but with the collaboration of the local clubs, the LGU and the private sector anything is possible.
His goal is to elevate the quality of football province wide this time and take San Carlos City as an example for football development.
“The goal is to elevate the quality of the games with a sustainable tournament for the youth and the grassroots. A league that involves the entire community. Just like in San Carlos City, we will involve the LGU and incorporate sports tourism. The impact with the numbers are great, it only needs to be coordinated,” he said.
Now this youngster has a big vision for football for half of the Negros island. When will the PFF do their part? GOD BLESS (jackbiantantambok@gmail.com)
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