Over 10,000 players, 618 teams take part in RFA Youth League as PFF expands regional development
MANILA, Philippines — Youth competitions are coming back to life across the country as the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), through its 39 Regional Football Associations (RFAs), recently kicked off the RFA Youth League (RFA YL).
The RFA Youth League is a nationwide grassroots competition drawing in 10,000 players all over the archipelago for the Under-11 and Under-13 age groups in 8v8 football and futsal, running until November.
A total of 618 teams from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have begun the inaugural nationwide competition, with more teams playing this September.
Luzon accounts for 225 teams, with 98 entries in the U11 category and 127 in U13. The Visayas has 125 teams, composed of 58 U11 and 67 U13 sides, while Mindanao leads the country with 268 participating teams — 130 in U11 and 138 in U13.
The scale of participation underscores the strong demand for regular youth competitions and reflects the PFF’s effort to bring organized football back to communities across the country.
Rather than limiting youth development to training programs and occasional tournaments, RFA YL gives young players a consistent competitive environment where they can gain experience and measure their progress against their peers.
PFF President John Anthony Gutierrez said the revival of youth competitions is central to building a stronger and more sustainable football pathway in the Philippines.
“The RFA Youth League is about bringing youth competitions back to the communities and making sure that young players in every region have a real, structured chance to play and to be seen,” said Gutierrez.
“We are giving our regional associations the tools and the support to run consistent competitions, and in turn, we expect a clearer picture of the talent coming up across the country,’’ added Gutierrez.
RFA YL also strengthens the role of the RFAs as the foundation of the country’s football development system.
With competitions being conducted closer to where young players live and train, the league allows more children to experience organized football while giving coaches and regional associations greater opportunities to identify and nurture emerging talent.
The program falls under the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) and is designed to give young players more regular playing opportunities while establishing a structured pathway for talent identification across the country.
"TDS gives us a framework to make sure talent identification isn't left to chance," Gutierrez said. "Through the RFA Youth League, every region now has a consistent competition to draw from, so we're not just hoping to find players, we're building a system that finds them."
Gutierrez said the league's design, particularly its reporting and monitoring requirements, is meant to build long-term systems rather than one-off events.
"We are building habits of documentation, player monitoring, and coordination between the RFAs and the national federation, so that whoever is identified through this league has a defined pathway forward, whether that's the Center of Development or the youth national team pool," he said. (Pool story)
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