By Nanette Guadalquiver | Philippine News Agency
BACOLOD CITY — A total of 12 teams, both in the Women’s and Men’s Divisions, are competing in the three-day National Tchoukball Championships, which opens at the STI-West Negros University Gym in this city on Wednesday.
The competition, organized by the Tchoukball Association of the Philippines (TAP), will determine the country’s representatives to the World Tchoukball Championships 2019 in Malaysia on August 8-10.
Elvie Jamelo, TAP secretary-general and member of the Fédération Internationale de Tchoukball (FITB) Executive Committee, said this year’s national tournament is the sixth since tchoukball was introduced in the Philippines in 2010.
“Most of the players now come from different schools around the country,” she said.
In the Women’s Division, the competing teams include the Christian Athletic Volunteers (CAV) Butanding Cebu, Manila Crickets, GSCA Guardians Butuan, and the Ilahas Señoritas and Ikthus Lady Sharks, both of Bacolod.
Teams in the Men’s Division are the Ilahas Seniors, Ilahas Juniors, Ikthus Sharks of Bacolod, Gracelife Tchoukball of Murcia, CAV Butanding Cebu, Manila Crickets, and GSCA Guardians Butuan.
Before the tournament, the TAP conducted a two-day coaches and referees training and licensing seminar on April 8 and 9.
Tchoukball, a non-contact team sport, was introduced in the 1960s by Swiss biologist Doctor Hermann Brandt. Its non-contact nature aims to minimize the risk of serious injuries.
A match, usually played on an indoor court, involves two teams with seven players each. At the end of each court, there is a “rebound frame”, from which the attacking player must bounce the ball off. After the ball hits the surface, it must touch the floor outside of the forbidden zone to score a point.
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) has officially recognized the Bacolod-based TAP as a national sports association (NSA) member during its general assembly in September last year.
Jamelo said the POC’s recognition for the TAP has opened many doors for the development of tchoukball in the country.
“Our hands are full, but we are excited that the sacrifices of this young federation are slowly bearing fruit,” she added.
In December, tchoukball was introduced as a demonstration sport participated in by 72 players during the 2018 Negros Occidental Provincial Meet at the Panaad Stadium.
Also in March, a tchoukball demonstration was featured at the opening of the 2019 Western Visayas Private Schools Athletic Association Meet held in Bacolod.
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