The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) has announced the conduct of official talent identification tryouts for the Philippine under-17 women’s national football team in the Philippines and the United States as part of its continuing efforts to strengthen the long-term development pathway for Filipina footballers and in preparation for the upcoming AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in China in May 2026.
Under the expanded U-17 women’s program, the national pool training will be structured to mirror high-performance international setups. The schedule of the ongoing Philippine tryouts for Filipina athletes born between 2009 and 2012 are as follows:
Field training:
Every Monday – 8 PM to 10 PM
Every Wednesday – 6 PM to 8 PM
Every Saturday 2 PM – 4 PM
Venue is at Circuit Makati
Strength and conditioning:
Every Tuesday and Thursday – 6 PM to 8 PM
Venue is at Paseo de Magallanes, Makati City
The program will be supported by pro-licensed international coaches based in the Philippines, a comprehensive strength and conditioning and sports science framework, structured player profiling and recovery systems, and regular participation in both local and international competitions as a national team.
The presidents and/or general secretaries of all PFF member Regional Football Association (RFAs) and PFF member clubs are enjoined by PFF to endorse their best under-17 female football players to join the abovementioned Philippine tryouts.
US tryouts
Meanwhile, the United States tryouts will be held from January 30 to February 3, 2026 at the Great Park Sports Complex, 8000 Great Park Blvd, Irvine, California in Greater Los Angeles and are open to America-based Filipino players born between 2009 and 2012, forming part of what the Federation describes as “The Next Gold Generation”—a structured pathway aligned with the sustained success of the Filipinas, who recently won the Philippines’ first Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medal in football.
The Los Angeles tryouts complement the PFF’s broader U-17 women’s national team program, which for the first time will operate as a year-round, five-day-a-week training setup in the Philippines. The initiative follows major milestones in women’s football, from the senior team’s regional and continental triumphs to the U-17 squad’s qualification for the final stage of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2024.
In October 2025, Filipinas U17 returned to the Asian Cup via a clean sweep of the Dushanbe qualifying group, beating Syria (5-0), Tajikistan (1-0), and Malaysia (4-0).
In the 2024 Asian Cup in Bali, Filipinas U17 nearly qualified to the U17 Women’s World Cup, defeating host Indonesia (6-1), losing to eventual Asian and world champion North Korea (0-6), and ending the campaign with a hotly-contested 1-1 draw against South Korea.
“This is about building continuity and creating a real bridge from youth football to the senior national team,” said Jose Luis “Selu” Lozano, Philippine women’s national team manager. “We are identifying players early, developing them properly, and giving them access to the same standards of coaching, preparation, and support found in top international environments. This is how you sustain success.”
This “bridge” was actualized in the Filipinas program in the 2025 SEA Games champion team, where 2024 U17 standouts like Alexa Pino, Ariana Markey, Jael Guy scoring clutch goals throughout the biennial meet and pens in the two penalty shootouts during the knockout rounds.
According to Lozano, the inclusion of overseas-based Filipino players through targeted identification camps such as the Los Angeles tryouts is a key component of the strategy.
“Filipina players are developing in different environments around the world. Our responsibility is to bring them into one clear system, one pathway, and one national identity,” he said.
Interested players or families seeking consideration for the Philippine U-17 Women’s National Team long-term pool may register their intent or request further details to the following contact details:
- For overseas-based players – Contact US Talent Scout Coordinator Jay Pascual at fapiv@yahoo.com and/or 949-981-9067
- For Philippine-based players – Contact Team Manager Jose Luis Lozano at +63918-888-7358
Selected players will receive a formal invitation and additional instructions following initial evaluation.
PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez emphasized that “the U17 women’s initiative represents a deliberate move toward a sustainable, home-grown national development structure, ensuring that future generations of Filipina footballers are prepared to transition seamlessly from youth levels to the senior national team.”
