Mindanaotoday.com | PFF needs to see Bulua’s ‘Super Girl’
By: Jack Biantan
CAGAYAN DE ORO City — There is no secret in Cagayan de Oro’s football community that Bulua FC Lady Strikers have a gem in their line-up.
The CdO football community have known the 16-year-old Stephanie ‘Tipay’ Martinez since she was 10-years-old when she started kicking the ball for coach Jun Actub of the Lady Strikers.
She was already then a main ‘woman’ for the Bulua FC Strikers which won the title in the Girls 12 team category of the Bulua Fiesta PIA Cup Futsal tournament of senator Pia Cayatano.
She is not only a gem but a ‘Super Girl’ of Cagayan de Oro’s football community.
COMPLETE STRIKER
Stephanie is complete striker, tall for her age, strong, has leadership skills and the most important of all, a scoring machine.
Tipay as what her friends and coach calls her, was unstoppable during the Cagayan de Oro City Department of Education (DepEd) Division meet Futsal tournament where she scored a total of 11 goals in the three-team one-day competition.
She scored six goals for Bulua National High School against Lumbia National High School and then finished the tournament with five more goals against Xavier University High School team.
Tipay is feared every time she plays for Bulua in any tournament. “She is very talented, her booming shots were unstoppable and her dribbling skills were fantastic. We always pray that she gets sick or break her leg when we play against her,’’ joked her friend and many times opponent on the futsal floor Mary Love Lacar of Lumbia Raptors.
Lacar a strong defender for the Raptors during the CdO Division meet, could not stop Martinez as the Grade 10 student scored six goals against her.
SOLDIER
Unfortunately, Tipay has another dream. She said she wants to be a soldier because soldiers right now are paid well. However, if there is an opportunity for her to have a decent future in football she is ready to shift her focused.
She said, right now she enjoys more playing futsal but she is also good in playing football. Unfortunately, specially now here in Cagayan de Oro City there is no opportunity to play 11-aside football.
Most of the tournaments played here are 5-aside futsal and 7-aside festival football. The Philippines do not even have a women’s national futsal team and the national women’s football team are focused on playing for the Women’s World Cup and the Olympic Qualifying tournaments.
When the PFF organized the Festival Of Football aimed to find new talents few months ago, it did not even send a national coach to see the talents. Local coaches organized the event, took some pictures and nothing has been heard about it anymore.
Tipay was present during that event and she was a talent waiting to be picked. Of course there were trials for players who could afford to go to Davao City for some age group national teams.
COACHES
The coaches who organized the trials did not send her. If she was sent she could not go as she could not afford the trip. Her family is poor.
We wish the PFF could get Tipay for a national youth training team where she could blossom to be a scoring machine. She is a talent waiting to be picked. She deserves to play on the 11-aside pitch not to handle an M-16 in a battle field.
CdO’s ’Super Girl’ footballer’s favorite international female booter is US veteran striker Alex Morgan.
The 33-year-old Morgan is the all-time 5th top scorer of the USA WNFT with a total of 120 international goals.
HIGALA
Locally she admires her perennial nemesis at Higala FC, Gail Loking. The Grade 12 defender, midfielder from SMS and Tipay’s teams always clash in local tournaments.
“We are not close but I admire her intelligence during matches, she is also very humble and very skillful,’’ Tipay said about Loking.
Tipay is one of the products of Bulua FC Strikers of football mad teaching couples Jun Actub of Bulua National High School and his wife Heintje of Bulua Elementary School.
“I learned playing football and futsal from coach Jun Actub. He has been our coach since I was 10 years old,’’ she said.
COACH JUN ACTUB
“Coach Jun Actub founded the Bulua Strikers FC in 2014 with his wife and some parents of the students from BNHS and BES.
Tipay’s guardian, aunt and constant companion Melanie ‘Emyat’ Martinez is also a big influence in her footballing life.
Emyat is the very active president of the Bulua Strikers FC parents group. She has been responsible for organizing the parents of players in taking care of the needs of the players.
Emyat has also two children playing for the Strikers and has been the doting aunt for Tipay.
Tipay on her part never stops training and even this Holy Week she is on the field or in the gym training with the Srikers for the coming tournaments this summer.
She has never been to any tryouts of the PFF. But in case they will call she will always be ready. (jackbiantantambok@gmail.com)
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