By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

STARTED OUT as a small league among friends, the 7’s Football League in just a short time has taken root and grown immensely, shoring up further the push for the sport of football here.

Founded in 2018 by former national player Anton Del Rosario, the 7’s Football League has had four seasons to date and has seen the number of teams competing in it steadily grow in numbers.

It has also attracted a lot of partners, which believe in what it wants to accomplish for the sport, along the way, including insurance firm Philam Life, a presenting sponsor for the 7-a-side league.

“Basically it started when I took some time off football and kind of missed it. And I thought why not gather players and put up a league. It was 7-a-side because I already had a group that I get together with and play,” said Mr. Del Rosario of the beginnings of the league on the “Heroes of Halftime” podcast with Audris Romualdez last week.

“I just phoned a bunch of my friends and they formed teams and we got a league in the first season,” added Mr. Del Rosario, who was joined in the podcast as guest by Luntian Futsal coach, player and manager Johann Casal.

From a league of eight teams, Mr. Del Rosario shared they saw the opportunity to grow the league and provide a venue where players can strut their stuff and play on a consistent basis.

Being smaller in size compared to an 11-a-side league made cost and operations all the more sustainable, which also provides a motor for them to continue doing what they do and seeing their vision through.

Mr. Del Rosario said right now there are over a hundred teams competing in weekend matches in various divisions in different parts of the country, a testament to the kind of reception that the league has been getting and the potential for it to continue to grow.

In the 7’s Football League, teams have seven on-field players as opposed to 11 in a regular association football match.

Matches have two halves with 15 minutes each and are played at a smaller field than the standard football pitch. There are also no restrictions on the number of foreigners a team can field or rules barring individuals with no prior professional football experience from playing.

In the men’s division, Super Eagles have been a steady winner, claiming three of four titles so far, with Ghana FC having won one. In the women’s division, which was launched in season 3, Outkast and Stallion-Hiraya have been champions.

Unfortunately, as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started disrupting different affairs in the country, 7s Football League had to suspend its fifth season, something that is regrettable, said Mr. Del Rosario, considering that kind of momentum it has built in previous seasons.

But the league remains optimistic that action would resume down the line even as it is finding ways for now to reach out to the community.

One of the things they are doing is the launch of the 7x7EFL, an electronic football league where teams compete in.

They are also crafting guidelines for how the league will be conducted in the “new normal,” with social distancing and other mitigating measures against the spread of COVID-19 in mind.

“Teams are eager to get back but I am sure there are still who are having second thoughts. Hopefully after this, things normalize so that people can come out and support the football community which we have built together,” said Mr. Del Rosario.

“We just have to stay safe for now. These will all fly past and we will get back to kicking football. Looking forward to collaborating with different stakeholders when everything is okay,” he added.

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