The Philippine Pythons: Making History on Touch Football

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The Philippine Pythons garnered a seat among other competing countries as this year’s underdog in the 2015 Fit Touch World Cup but proved to be a force to be dealt with!

The recently concluded Fit Touch World Cup was held in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia from April 28, to May 3, 2015. The Philippines was new on the international playing field, along with Chile, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, and was out to gain a world ranking in touch rugby. The roster listed 84 teams played in a total of 9 divisions.

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The Women’s National Touch Football Team, the Philippine Pythons, represented the country in both the open and mixed divisions. The players were handpicked from different Philippine touch rugby teams, such as the Nomad Bullettes Team, in order to create the dream team.

The Philippine Pythons battled it out, dreaded the changing weather, and rose up with new badges on their belts.The team finished with a 2-8 win-loss record.The Philippines ranked 12^th out of 14 countries in the Women’sOpen defeating Samoa and Fiji. The team’s top scorers were Ali Preysler with 6 touchdowns and Andy Preysler with 5 touchdowns.

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With an even more victorious fight and an 8-1-1 win-loss-draw record, the Philippines ranked 9^th out of 22 countries in the Mixed Open and was declared as a Plate Winner. The Philippine Pythons Mixed Team defeated South Africa, Wales, and Singapore, among others. The team’s top scorers were Christian Alonzo, Jason Lynch, and Jackelyn Ronquillo who all had 7 touchdowns each.

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Touch Football has yet to be a prime sport in the country but has recently started gaining recognition. The Federation of Touch Football Pilipinas (FTFP), Inc. has placed all of its efforts in sending out our teams to competitions in countries like Bangkok and Hong Kong. The sport has also turned heads locally as games by the FTFP, Inc. and the University of the Philippines is held every season. This year, the Philippines officially became a member of the Federation of International Touch (FIT), which qualified our country to join the Touch Football World Cup.

The Philippine Pythons has truly made us proud! This marks the start of the rise of Philippine Touch Football.

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Article by Vikki Daet