After hosting the Asean Football Championship qualifiers last year, the Negros Occidental Football Association goes back to the grassroots level when it stages three tournaments starting on Feb. 10 in Bacolod City.

NOFA deputy general-secretary Warren Concepcion yesterday said that the Under-15 and Under-17 Boys' Provincial Championships will kick off on Feb. 10 as well as the 38-Above home-and-away tournament, but the venues have yet to be finalized.

The venues will be finalized next week, but the ones being eyed are the Panaad Park and Stadium, Paglaum Sports Complex, University of St. La Salle and University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, Concepcion said.

The San Carlos City Football Club and Celta de Victorias FC have also offered during a meeting at the NOFA Clubhouse Saturday to host the away matches, he added.

The San Carlos booters are eyeing back-to-back championships in the Under-15 and Under-17 competitions that will have 16 squads seeing action in each tournament, while the 38-Above hostilities will see eight teams tussling for the crown.

The 38-Above tournament, where former Philippine Team members will be playing, will be held for the first time because NOFA wants to keep the passion and support of the booters who have given glory to Negros in the past, Concepcion said.

Aside from staging the three tournaments, NOFA has also calendared grassroots festivals for Under-12 booters and distribution of balls to its member-clubs, he said. The planning of a seminar for the media has also been lined-up by the association to take place this month together with the assessment of the different clubs' programs, he added.

Meanwhile, Concepcion said that NOFA will also facilitate the Under-12, Under-14 and Under-17 hostilities of the Don Bosco Olympics from Feb. 2-4 in Victorias City.

Concepcion said that squads from Cebu and Dumaguete have already expressed interest to join the tournament.*CIT

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