GFA partners with Guam Cancer Care, welcomes over 200 to festival

[October 25, 2022 – Harmon, Guam] Both Guam Football Association and the GFA Women’s Committee signed pledges with Guam Cancer Care as its newest partners in the organization’s “Join the Fight” Campaign against cancer over the weekend.

“We’re always looking for ways to give back to the local community that continues to support us,” said Valentino San Gil, GFA President. “We fully support Guam Cancer Care’s mission in Guam and applaud their tireless efforts. We look forward to the collaboration in expanding awareness of the organization’s initiatives and services that benefit not only those afflicted with cancer, but their families and support groups. We are proud to partner with Guam Cancer Care and support our community in this collective fight against cancer.”

San Gil signed the “Join The Fight” pledge on behalf of Guam Football Association during Week 6 of the Triple J Auto Group Robbie Webber Youth League Saturday morning. Guam Cancer Care also featured an information booth at GFA during the day to meet club members and families and provide information about the organization’s initiatives.

“Everyone in Guam knows someone or of someone afflicted with cancer and so it’s vital that we educate and assist the community about the importance of screening and detecting cancer early,” said Nona Perez, Guam Cancer Care Screening and Prevention Program Manager. “Guam is a small and relatively remote island, but we’ve been seeing very high numbers of cancer patients as in the United States. Guam Cancer Care not only provides services for those diagnosed with cancer, but also emphasizes education in screening and early detection through its outreach programs or by partnering with organizations like GFA to help increase awareness in the community.”

Guam Cancer Care will be going on its 12^th year in the community, Perez said. The organization offers services such as its Patient Navigation Program, Financial Assistance Program, Patient Transportation Program, Cancer Support Group, Cancer Screening Program, and Cancer Education and Outreach, according to its Web site.

In addition to GFA, the GFA Women’s Football Committee separately signed the pledge with Guam Cancer Care as a partner in its “Join the Fight” campaign. GFA Women’s Football Committee Chairperson Tina Esteves signed on behalf of the committee during the GFA Girls Football Festival: Growing our Girls to the Next Level event Sunday afternoon at GFA.

The GFA Women’s Football Committee organized the event to celebrate the launch of GFA’s new four-year Strategic Plan, with participation growth – specifically girls and women in the sport – as part of the strategy’s five main pillars. Headlining the event was an appearance by the Masakåda, Guam Women’s National Team, as well as the U17 and U20 National Team training squads assisting with event matches for girls in the U6 through U15 age divisions.

In addition to the matches and signing with Guam Cancer Care, the festival included activities such as face painting, henna tattoos, a photo booth by Guam Community College student volunteers, a dunking booth, complimentary ice cream from Haagen Dazs, complimentary snow cones and popcorn, Triple J Auto Group’s Sure Shot game, an exhibition match between the current Masakåda training squad and the Guam Women’s National Team alumnae, and a bake sale fundraiser by the Guam U14 Girls National Team looking to take part in a training camp in Saipan next month.

“I would say that the best part about (Sunday’s) festival was the matches because I like playing soccer and I like playing soccer with my friends,” said Elyse Concepcion, an 11-year-old student at Luis P. Untalan Middle School. “I also liked some other parts of the festival, like the food we had and other games that they had like the dunking booth and the (Sure Shot) game where we had to kick the ball into parts of the goal to earn points.”

Concepcion, who plays for the Guam Shipyard Wolverines, also is training with the Guam U14 Girls National Team. She first started playing soccer when she was two years old. Concepcion’s teammate on the U14 National Team training squad, Aliana Meno, also enjoyed the matches the most during the festival and interacting with the coaches in the Guam National Program and Guam Women’s National Team players.

“I really liked playing the matches and getting to spend time with the other girls,” said Meno, a 12-year-old student at Oceanview Middle School. “I would recommend that more girls come to festivals like this – it’s a place where you can have a lot of fun, but also work on improving your soccer skills.”

Meno, who plays for the GPSI Southern Cobras, started playing soccer a year ago, inspired by her older sister Analea Meno. The older Meno is the reigning MVP of the ISA Girls High School Soccer League, and also was called up to play on Guam’s first-ever Women’s Futsal Team as one of three 16-year-olds on the traveling roster.

The final version of GFA’s new four-year Strategic Plan was introduced to GFA’s Member Clubs at the GFA Ordinary Congress event Monday evening and will be available to view on GFA’s Official Web site, https://www.GuamFA.com