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Repeat winners in NMIFA Spring Youth League
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- MP United Football Club vice president Lydia Tan, second left back row, joins MPU U18 players for a group photo after receiving the championship trophy and medals during the awards ceremony for the 2018 NMIFA Spring Youth League last Friday at the Kanoa Resort. Also in the photo are NMIFA general secretary Ross Zapanta, left back row, and deputy general secretary Merlie Tolentino, right back row. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
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- From left, girls U16 Golden Boot awardee Paulynn Joyce and Golden Glove winners Theresa Toves and Irish Viray pose for a photo after receiving their trophies. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Familiar faces went up to the stage of Kanoa Resort lobby to receive awards for their outstanding performance in the 2018 NMIFA Spring Youth League.
TanHoldings Football Club’s Taka Borja and Kanoa FC’s Paulynn Joyce, who took the Golden Boot awards in their respective age groups in the 2017 fall season, earned the same recognition in the recent season. Borja collected 24 goals to lead the boys U15 division, while Joyce’s 25 topped the girls U16 age group.
In the Golden Glove category, Kanoa’s Joe Emil Antonio and MP United’s Floyd Muna and Christopher Aninzo were repeat winners, too. Antonio gave up 26 goals in the co-ed U13 division, while Muna yielded only 12 in the boys U15 age group. Aninzo’s four goals was the least allowed in the boys U18 division.
In the co-ed U13 Golden Boot race, there were two winners in MP United’s Andrew Chung and TanHoldings’ Mark Joseph Roque, who registered 20 each in the spring season. Chung took the same award in the fall season last year. In the boys U18, there was a new Golden Boot award recipient in Mark Esalan with the TanHoldings striker recording 14 goals.
Roque’s brother, Mark Joshua of TanHoldings-2, notched the Fair Play award in the co-ed U13 division, while Kohtaro Goto, also from TanHoldings FC, bagged the same plum in the boys U15 division. Completing the list of Fair Play awardees were Viray in the girls U16 division and TanHoldings’ Thaiphi Austria in the boys U18 age group.
Meanwhile, in the team awards, Kanoa gained two trophies after winning the boys U15 and girls U16 divisions, while TanHoldings-1 was handed the championship crown in the co-ed U13A, and MP United won in the boys U18 division.
Northern Mariana Islands Football Association general secretary Ross Zapanta and deputy general secretary Merlie Tolentino handed the trophies and medals to teams and players, while NMIFA president Jerry Tan delivered a brief message during the awards ceremony.
Tan congratulated the players and made special mention of their parents, who are always there to support their children.
