Daba Daba Ikawalo: A Journey To The Worlds. It's More Than Just A Tourney This Year.
This year is more than just a tournament.
This year’s Daba Daba is different from the previous ones. As most of us already know, Mulatto is one of the most generous bunch of people in the community. This time though, they needed our help. After winning the AOUGCC mixed division championships last August 2017, they were given a slot to represent the country for the upcoming World Ultimate Club Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio this coming July. There were a lot of provincial ultimate communities who made their own Fundraising tournaments to help out the cause, but last weekend, Daba Daba Ikawalo marked as one of the biggest fundraising tournaments that ever happened in Philippine Ultimate Community. Thirty-nine teams from Luzon, Visayas and mostly in Mindanao answered the Mulatto’s call. And every single one of them came out to play with a lot of intensity.
Daba Daba always giving us the glimpse of their past, present, and future. Seasoned veterans are still putting up teams to compete with the present stars of Mindanao Ultimate as the future high-flyers making their presence known, showing everyone that they are the next big names in the region. It is one of the reasons why that even in lower pools the Daba Daba games are just as exciting as the higher pool games. There was a ton of action in all 4 fields.
As you remember a few weeks ago during the Nationals, we were bombarded by strong winds and really hot weather that leveled the playing field. That weekend in Davao, though there’s no wind, the sun was terribly unforgiving. We really tried to keep ourselves hydrated, but the sun totally gave us a hard time, knocking us out for a few times and making us sit under the command center tent a little longer than we wanted. But then again, it’s all part of the life we try to live in. It’s all part of the amazing Ultimate. So we kept on shooting.
Day 1 was a lot of fun (and hot), but teams during Day 2 came out stronger (and hotter) as expected. From the crossover games, quarters, to the night games between Mulatto v Pangantucan Dragonfly on Pitch 2 and South Side Guerrillas v BatMan (Batang Mandaya of Mati City) on Pitch 1, it was a battle to the end as both games went on Universe point finish.
There were a lot of young teams who had a great run in Daba Daba ikawalo, like Batang Mandaya from Mati City who improved their rankings from 20th last year to 5th place this year. Another team from Mati City, Team Kitty Apprentice Ultimate who placed Second runner-up in Pool D, and a young team from Bais City, Negros, calling themselves The Rainbow Monkeys, who participated in Daba Daba for the first time, placed 2nd runner-up in Pool A after defeating one of the best teams in Davao city, The South Side Guerrillas. The Monkeys had a full package of experience when it comes to traveling to a tournament as the whole team drove from Bais City all the way to Davao for 23 hours to play in Daba Daba.
A new challenger in Fasa Fuego of Cebu faced the defending champions and home team, Mulatto for the Pool A Finals. It was exciting from the start, but Mulatto showed its dominance all throughout the game. Though the two Jeff Paloys of Fasa Fuego did everything they can to catch up, Mulatto was just too tough to handle. As the sun was about to set, Mulatto won their Sixth Daba Daba Championship trophy!
Mulatto´s journey to the World Ultimate Club Championships in Ohio is not an easy bridge to cross. You need to be ready - physically and mentally. As well as the expenses ahead such as- processing the papers, the visas, registrations, food, accommodation reservation, transportation and anything you could possibly spend in a foreign country. You just have to keep all of that into account. Mulatto did their part, and I believe that they will do everything in their power to reach the top. In our own little way, lending a hand to this amazing group of people to make their DREAM a one big REALITY.
Mabuhay kayo, Mulatto! Best of luck in your Journey To The Worlds!
For more donations on Mullato's Journey to WUCC 2018, visit their Make A Champ page!
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