The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) launches its national youth competition for Under-15 age group, the PFF U15 Boys National Championship 2019.
Organised and sanctioned by PFF, thirty-three (33) teams nominated by the various PFF Regional Football Associations nationwide will compete in the boys league.
The competition is a youth league development program of PFF with help from the FIFA Youth Development Projects – Philippines. The tournament is slated for late June 2019 until November 2019.
“We thank FIFA for helping PFF organise and conduct the PFF U15 Boys National Championship,” said PFF general secretary Atty. Edwin Gastanes. “Competition is the heartbeat of football and through this tournament, our coaches may see the future stars of tomorrow.”
The tournament has three stages: Regional Group Stages, National Championship Round, and Final Round.
The Regional Group Stages will have eight (8) groups. Sixteen (16) teams from Luzon are divided into four (4) groups of four (4) teams. Meanwhile, five (5) teams from Visayas are in one (1) group. Twelve (12) teams from Mindanao are grouped into three (3) groups of four (4) teams.
Teams will play a double round robin elimination in a home-and-away format during the Regional Group Stages. The group winners from each group in Luzon and Mindanao, along with the top two teams from Visayas, and the best second placed team in Mindanao, will advance to the National Championship Round.
The National Championship Round will be a centralized competition in Luzon and Mindanao. It will have two (2) groups of five (5) teams each. Four (4) group winners from Luzon and runner-up team from Visayas will be drawn to Group 1. Three (3) group winners and best second placed team from Mindanao and the group winner from Visayas will form Group 2. The top two (2) teams from each group will advance to the Final Round.
The Final Round will see the Group 1 winner facing Group 2 runner-up and the Group 2 winner facing Group 1 runner-up in the semi-final round. The losing teams in the Semi-final round will face in the 3rd/4th Play-off. The winning teams in the semi-final will play for the national championship.
Participating teams were required to comply with MyPFF online registration for team registration of players and officials pursuant to PFF mandate that all participating players and coaches competing in PFF-sanctioned competitions must be registered in MyPFF.
Preparations are underway ahead of the first match date on 29 June 2019. PFF conducted a Competition Workshop last 15-16 June 2019 in four different venues: Manila, Bicol, Iloilo, and Davao. The workshop will tackle tournament matters such as competition, security, disciplinary, refereeing, medical, marketing, and match organisation.
“We wish all the participating teams the best of luck in this tournament,” added Gastanes. “With the RFA’s and team’s cooperation, we envision an exciting first edition of the PFF U15 Boys National Championship 2019.”
Participating teams and groupings:
LUZON (16 teams)
| GROUP A | GROUP B | ||
| 1 | Central Luzon RFA | 1 | Cavites FA |
| 2 | Cordillera RFA | 2 | NCRFA |
| 3 | Olongapo – Zambales FA | 3 | FA of Rizal |
| 4 | Club in Pangasinan* | 4 | Rizal FA* |
*PFF invited team
| GROUP C | GROUP D | ||
| 1 | Laguna FA | 1 | RFA of Camarines Norte |
| 2 | Oriental Mindoro RFA | 2 | Central Bicol FA |
| 3 | Palawan FA | 3 | Legazpi – Albay FA |
| 4 | Quezon FA | 4 | Federated FA of Masbate |
VISAYAS (5 teams)
| GROUP E | |
| 1 | Central Visayas RFA |
| 2 | Eastern Visayas RFA |
| 3 | Iloilo FA |
| 4 | Negros Occidental FA |
| 5 | Negros Oriental FA |
MINDANAO (12 teams)
| GROUP F | GROUP G | ||
| 1 | Team from Misamis Occidental | 1 | Davao RFA |
| 2 | Pagadian – Zamboanga del Sur – Sibugay RFA | 2 | Golden Davao RFA |
| 3 | Zamboanga – Basilan – Sulu – Tawi-tawi FA | 3 | Iligan – Lanao del Norte – Lanao del Sur RFA |
| 4 | Zamboanga del Norte – Dipolog RFA | 4 | North Davao RFA |
| GROUP H | |
| 1 | Team from Maguindanao |
| 2 | Mount Apo RFA |
| 3 | South Cotabato – Sarangani – Gen. Santos City RFA |
| 4 | Sultan Kudarat RFA |