Reporting note: this article draws on philstar.com; TaxiSports provides the summary and editorial framing.
A Dedicated Football Hub in Dasmariñas
Melmac Sports has officially opened a FIFA-standard football pitch at Villar City in Dasmariñas, Cavite. Unveiled on Saturday, September 26, the facility anchors a 3.5-hectare property designed for matches, training programs, community sports events, and subsequent infrastructure expansion.
The opening ceremony was led by Mel Macasaquit, President and CEO of All Star Properties Inc., alongside business partners and former Philippine national team players Misagh Bahadoran and Simon Greatwich. Former Senator Manny Villar, chairman of Villar Land Holdings, also attended alongside Chief Operating Officer Mary Lee Sardiasa and Division Head Engineer Allan Santos.
Permanent Home for Grassroots Development
Beyond hosting competitive fixtures, the venue provides a permanent training base for Greatwich’s youth program, G8 Academy. Melmac Sports leadership positioned the pitch as a long-term investment in local talent, aiming to build a continuous pipeline for the next generation of Philippine footballers.
“While people may see a lot of basketball in our portfolio, football has always been the foundation of Melmac Sports... Simon literally dedicated his life to teaching kids football through G8 Academy. Today, it finally has a home.” — Mel Macasaquit
Facility Details and Regional Expansion
- Pitch Standard: FIFA-standard full-sized field built on a 3.5-hectare development footprint in Villar City, Cavite.
- Youth Development: Official operational base for G8 Academy's coaching and player pathway programs.
- Commercial Integration: The launch coincided with the opening of Planet Melmac, a Singapore-origin fried chicken franchise.
- Regional Footprint: Melmac Sports also operates a 3,500-square-meter multi-sport hub at Vista Mall Imus, housing courts for pickleball, 3x3 and 5-on-5 basketball, and conditioning gyms.
What to Watch Next
The establishment of regulation pitches south of Metro Manila addresses a longstanding shortage of standardized football infrastructure in the region. Observers will be tracking how effectively the venue integrates into regional leagues, youth tournaments, and grassroots schedules over the coming competitive calendar.
Blake Torres
Blake Torres writes football as a visceral trial, not a pastime. His prose is steeped in the game’s raw materials: the sting of wintergreen heat, the squelch of a boot in mud, the metallic taste of exhaustion. Tactical analysis is never a detached diagram; it’s a jagged sprint through a sudden pressing trap, the panicked shift of a backline caught wrong-footed in a sudden glare. Torres treats the final whistle as a moral hinge—victory and defeat land as weight, redistributing something unspoken among players and stands. Post-match soundbites are absent; instead, he reads the slope of a shoulder, the tremor in a hand, the silence that follows a missed chance. What a reader receives is not a summary but a sensory immersion, a match felt in the sinuses and the ligaments. The narrative arcs toward no neat resolution, only the stadium itself as the lights die: a scarred penalty spot, a wind-snapped corner flag, the slow drip of rain from a gutter onto empty seats.
