ONE OF America’s favorite sports has arrived in the Philippines and Thomasians are part of the craze.
Eight Thomasians have been tapped to join the country’s official American football team, The Philippine Punishers, following open try-outs in November last year.
Now part of the 44-man squad are Bong Tamayo, Otto Wong, Manu Jigo, and Terence Marca of the Faculty of Engineering, Mark Joshua Castro of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Mel Calletor of Medicine, Robin Bunagan of Nursing, and Ken Tan of the College of Fine Arts and Design.
“A lot of people think that the sport is expensive and that Filipinos are not that big compared to other races. The sport is for everyone, no height requirement or weight restrictions,” Marca said.
Otto, Calletor, Jigo, Bunagan, and Tan will play as wide receivers, while Castro and Marca were assigned as running backs. Tamayo will be the only Thomasian on the defensive roster.
The Philippine Punishers, which started with 15 players in 2011, absorbed a 12-32 demolition from Guam All-Stars in their debut game in Clark, Pampanga last April 28. But they redeemed themselves in a 43-14 blowout against Hong Kong Cobras last May 5.
“We are making history in organizing international exhibition games in Pampanga. We also plan to organize American football training camps in the country to promote the sport by coordinating with the American Football Federation of the Philippines (AFFP),” Calletor said.
The team will soon face Asian countries like powerhouse teams of China and South Korea to qualify in bigger leagues. Alexis U. Cerado
