2017 Ultimate Battle Grounds: Come From Behind Victories. One Inch At A Time.
Teams from around the country gathered together in the beautiful and laid back city of Dumaguete to test their skills, competitiveness, passion, heart and spirit to the highest level last weekend. With ten Open teams and eight for Women all across Visayas and Mindanao, the 2017 Trident Ultimate Battle Grounds was packed with seasoned superstars and upcoming young bucks who will take your breath away when they step on the field. As much as we would love to talk about the seasoned veterans of the game, these young and fierce, up and coming Ultimate stars got my attention in Day 1 of the tournament. It's quite a privilege to witness how amazing these young kids play at their very young age, competing and challenging even the likes of Kyrah, Maimai and April. It only shows that Ultimate in this side of the country is beginning to spread like a grass fire. And they are not just players who will run for you in the zone hoping to get a pass from their teammates, but young players who can totally change the game and can handle the pressure to go for the win.... And they are only 14 to 16 years old. Imagine someday if they will have more experience, guidance and exposure in the next coming years. They will totally dominate the game in the future. Yes, I am talking about the amazing kids from Team Negra's. These girls are so much fun to watch giving their Ates a hard time on the field.
The ladies in this years UBG was definitely stepping up to the plate with authority. From the first pull of the tournament up to the last point of the weekend, these ladies from all over the world (Yes, we have a player from Capetown, South Africa)showed everyone at the ballfields of Siliman and RUSI/Daro, that Women's ultimate in the country is rapidly getting better and better. That if given a chance, these pretty tough and strong group of women can also dominate and headline an already action packed tournament in this side of the map. Of all the fantastic games last weekend, the semifinal game between LUMAD of Malaybalay and Iloilo's Maria was without a doubt the biggest upset game in the young history of UBG, or even in the whole provincial tournaments that I have ever witnessed. Down by two, with just a few ticks from the clock remaining, the Maria's led by their captains, Sheila Gascon and Nina Buenaflor-Javier with wingmen (or ladies) Cha Gutierrez and HG Villarin worked their way under the scorching heat and dusty fields of RUSI/Daro. They battled against Kyrah, Mai-mai and Abby powered LUMAD like it was their last game of the tournament to seal the victory with Bea Belcina scoring the final universe point. Team Maria goes wild while the support crew of Lumad was stunned on the sidelines, wondering what just happened. It was so eerie that I myself can't even explain the atmosphere after the game. I am not gonna lie, but I am having goosebumps right at this moment while I am writing this blog. It was definitely an awesome and inspiring thing to witness. To qoute the great Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday movie:
"On this team, we fight for that inch
On this team, we tear ourselves,
and everyone around us to pieces for that inch.
We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch.
Cause we know when we add up all those inches
that's going to make the f*#%(^G difference
between WINNING and LOSING
between LIVING and DYING."
On that day, team Maria won that inch.
Inhuman.
Out of this world experience.
One hundred percent NOT normal.
If you put the high flyers, the daredevils, the speedsters, and extreme play makers all in one weekend, these are the definitions that I could think of. The top four Open teams who reached the semifinal round of the tournament namely: Negro's of Dumaguete, Iliganons of Iligan city, Nino's of Cebu, and Bagani of Malaybalay, Bukidnon are the exact team blueprints of what the provincial ultimate is all about. Fast paced. Quick decision making. superhuman air battles. Call it risky. Call it dangerous. Call it extreme..... But it sure gets the job done.
There are a lot of amazing battles all weekend long, but the one game that gave me another goosebumps experience was the semifinal game between Iliganons and Nino's. With 5 minutes remaining on the clock, down by 3, Iliganons fought hard and never backed down from the challenges that the boys from Cebu was throwing at them. The Iligan boys led by Alod, Binoy and Wilbor did an unforgettable rally to keep their team close and finally stole the victory from Bruno, Oyok and the rest of the Boys in Red. The Siliman Ballfield exploded from the loud cheers and cries of the Illiganons and the rest of the crowd who had witnessed a dramatic vengeance from last year's defeat (Both teams are in the UBG 2016 Finals. Cebu took home the trophy that year). Tears flowing from the eyes of the Iliganons while trying to savor the sweet semifinal victory. Hair began to stood up at the back of my neck while I was photographing and witnessing these moments right in front of me. I learned and heard a lot of stories of how these young men and women from Iligan struggled, worked hard and sacrificed a ton of time and effort to be great at this game for years. Seeing that all their hard work finally came in to reality that Sunday afternoon was a joy to witness on my part.
The momentum favored the Iliganon's on the early part of the Open Finals against the Home team, Negro of Dumaguete. Up 3 to nothing, the boys from Mindanao was so fast and deadly from both ends of the field. But if you have a strong line of Dada, Tajji, Maki, Alex, Isoy, Dale and Neco, that 3-nil lead was just a thing from the past after a few minutes of Huck and Slash from the "Brados". It was a see-saw battle between these two great teams, up until Team Negro took control of the universe point to bring the trophy back home to Dumaguete.
To end this, Allow me again to quote the great Al Pacino in his role as a football coach in Any Given Sunday movie:
"I don't know what to say really.
Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives
all comes down to today.
Either we heal as a team
or we are going to crumble.
Inch by inch
play by play
till we're finished.
We are in hell right now, gentlemen believe me
and we can stay here
and get the shit kicked out of us
or we can fight our way back into the light.
We can climb out of hell.
One inch, at a time."
This is the story of what went down at the Battle Grounds.
Congratulations, Team Negro. Champions. Open Division. Congratulations, Illigan Amazons for being the Back to Back Women's Champions of the 2017 Trident Ultimate Battle Grounds! Big Kudos and high respects to Daddy David and John David "Dada" Libo-on, to all the organizers, Marshals and Sponsors for making this event as one the best tournaments in the early stage of the Philippine Ultimate season. We have a few single gender tourneys around the country, but if you will give this tournament a chance; without a doubt, you will also agree with me when I say that the Battle Grounds is definitely at the top of the list as one of the most competitive and intense single gender tournament you'll ever experienced. A few Manila players have witnessed it. Our colleagues from Philippine Ultiverse witnessed it. A lot of provincial teams have battled in it.
The Question now is.....
Are you up for the challenge???
Until then, more images share. More stories to tell...
It's All About U!
See you at White Beach, Boracay for the Boracay Open 2017!
For more photos of UBG 2017:
Nice!
ReplyDelete