Goodphil

Goodphil, short for The Goodphil Games, is a three-day competition every March between Filipino Students' Associations (FSA) of 12 universities and colleges in Texas (The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Baylor University, University of St. Thomas, Texas Tech University, University of Texas at Dallas , University of Texas at El Paso , and Trinity University). This competition is held every year (in March around Spring Break) and consists of 4 different parts: Cultural Dance, Spirit Competition, Modern Dance, and Sports competition. After the points are tallied, the top 3 schools are recognized in each section: modern dance, spirit dance, and each sport. The school with the most accumulated points is awarded the GoodPhil trophy.

History

The GoodPhil games were founded in 1991 by Reggie Perez, President of the Philippine Students Association (PhilSA) at Texas A&M University. His goal was to bring together the Filipino organizations from across the state...

The first Goodphil Games originated as a showdown between archrivals Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. The two schools battled not only each other, but also severe weather conditions. At one point during the weekend, President Reggie Perez was forced to "think of something they could play." Despite weather conditions and lack of precedence to go by, the first GoodPhil games were a huge success with the University of Texas emerging as the winner.

Since then, the GoodPhil Games has continued to grow. The University of Texas at Austin was the location for the second GoodPhil Games in 1992, which included the University of Houston, and the University of Texas at Arlington. Host to the third Goodphil games in 1993 was the University of Houston where the Spirit and Dance Competition and the "Hot Bod" contest was added. The 1994 Games were held in Arlington, thus completing the original rotation of hosts. In 1995, the GoodPhil Games returned to Texas A&M and welcomed the University of Texas San Antonio for the first time. The 1996 games held in Austin marked the first appearance of Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and in 1997, the Games in Houston brought the total number of participating schools to eight by adding Baylor University and the University of St. Thomas. Since then, the third hosting of the Goodphil games in Houston (2002), welcomed Texas Tech University and the University of Texas at Dallas, bringing the number of participating schools to ten.

The rapid growth of the GoodPhil Games created a need for more organization and a set of standard policies. So in the summer of 1997, representatives from Texas A&M, University of Houston, University of Texas, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, and the University of St. Thomas met in Corpus Christi to draft the GoodPhil Games Constitution. The Constitution was finalized on July 5, 1997, and had been later approved by eight schools that year. The Constitution also created new events that debuted at the 1998 Games in San Antonio. This included the Cultural Presentation and an Alumni Basketball Tournament.

In an attempt to improve communication, coordination, and planning for events happening in both the GoodPhil Games and the surrounding Filipino community, Emerson C. Cabatu from Texas A&M University founded the Philippine Students of Texas (PST) on the 30th day of May, 1998 with the support of all eight universities. The first official meeting for PST was held on the 26th of September, 1998 which consisted of the acting chair and the Governing Board (the President and Vice-President from each of the eight FSAs).

Goodphil Elements

Opening Ceremonies

Opening Ceremonies kicks off the Goodphil Games with cultural showcases, dance competitions, Philippine Students of Texas scholarship awards, and special guest performances by Filipino and/or Filipino-American entertainers. Usually held on a Friday night, opening ceremonies draws the most spectators, many of which aren't participating in Goodphil.

Cultural Dance

The Cultural Dance element of Goodphil has been incorporated since the beginning of the games. All schools that wish to compete in the Goodphil Games must complete the cultural dance portion. It traditionally is not scored by performance but points are merited by meeting certain guidelines, such as being tasteful in the eyes of judges and meeting the time limit (3 minutes). Each school does a dance to showcase the culture of the Philippines. These dances include tinikling, singkil, binasuan, sayaw sa bangko, as well as many others.

pirit Competition

Incorporated in 1993, the Spirit Competition focuses on school spirit. Often whimsical skits, or funny dances, the spirit competition is one of the most entertaining portions of Goodphil. It is graded on Originality, Enthusiasm, Crowd Participation, Accuracy, and Overall Performance. 1st place in this competition is worth 10 points for the overall Goodphil placing, 2nd place - 7 point, 3rd place - 5 points, and every school who participated and did not place is awarded 2 points.

Modern Dance Competition

Added during the Third Goodphil Games, the Modern Dance Competition is arguably the most anticipated event of the Goodphil Games. Graded on Originality, Enthusiasm, Crowd Participation, Accuracy, and Overall Performance, the dance competition is also one of the most controversial events of goodphil. It is the last event of the opening ceremonies, leaving the participants with high energy and spirits going into the sports tournaments. 1st place in this competition is worth 10 points for the overall Goodphil placing, 2nd place - 7 point, 3rd place - 5 points, and every school who participated and did not place is awarded 2 points.

pecial Guest Performances

*"2008" - Melissa Reyes, [http://www.myspace.com/imgabe Gabe Bondoc] (vocalist)
*"2007" - [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=266045 Joey Guila] (comedian) and [http://www.myspace.com/listen2passion Passion] (vocalist)
*"2006" - Wyldstyle (dance group)
*"2005" - Rex Navarrete (comedian); [http://www.myspace.com/6thday 6th Day] (male vocal group); and [http://www.bernadettelive.com/ Bernadette Balagtas] (actress & comedian)
*"2004" - One Vo1ce (female vocal group)
*"2003" - Chain Reaction (now [http://www.nu-origin.com/home.htm/ Nu-Origin Dance Crew] )
*"2002" - Devotion (male vocal group)
*"2001" -
*"2000" - Rex Navarrete(comedian) and Jocelyn Enriquez (vocalist)

ports Competition

Sports consist of more than 3/4 of the points which are awarded for the overall Goodphil champion. Lasting all-day Saturday and most of the day Sunday, the sports competition brings schools head to head to compete in athletic activity. Sports usually start at 8am Saturday morning and last until 6pm that night. They start up again 8am Sunday morning and go until all tournaments are complete.

ports played

The sports which are played for the weekend are picked by the host school of that Goodphil. Some sports played in the past are men's flag football, women's flag football, co-ed flag football, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's volleyball, women's volleyball, co-ed volleyball, co-ed soccer, co-ed softball, track, as well as indoor sports in the case of inclement weather such as ping-pong, bowling, racquetball and others.

ports Competition points system

The sports tournaments (except basketball) are single-elimination with 10,7, and 5 points being awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd points respectively.

Basketball points system

The basketball competition starts with pool play consisting of 4 teams per pool. Each team plays the other three teams in their pool, consisting of two 'A' teams and two 'B' teams. The top 10 teams from pool play, regarding to wins and points allowed, move on to the single elimination portion of the tournament. After completing the tournament points are awarded similar to the other competitions. Because of the multitude of games being played, the basketball championship is usually the last game played of the entire Goodphil Games.

In recent years, the basketball competition has been a double-elimination style tournament. First Round games consist of one school's 'A' team playing against another school's 'B' team. Having the tournament set up this way has cut down on the number of basketball games played but the championship game is still the last game played.

Club Party

A "Club Party" or "After Party" is held the Saturday night of Goodphil to bring together all the FSA's and break away from the competitive nature of Goodphil. During the club party, the winners of the Spirit Competition and Modern Dance Competition are announced.

DJ groups have included The BuddhaFoolz and The KrackerNuttz.

Closing Ceremonies

Goodphil concludes with the closing ceremonies late Sunday afternoon. After points and deductions are calculated, trophies are awarded to the top 3 winners of the spirit dance, modern dance, and each sport. Lastly, the top 3 overall places are announced and the school with the most accumulated points is awarded the 1st place Goodphil trophy, which is passed down from the previous winner.

Overall Winners

*"2008" - University of Texas at San Antonio
*"2007" - University of Houston
*"2006" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2005" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2004" - University of Houston & University of Texas at Dallas
*"2003" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2002" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2001" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2000" - University of Texas at Austin
*"1999" - University of Texas at Austin
*"1998" - University of Texas at San Antonio
*"1997" - University of Texas at San Antonio
*"1996" - University of Texas at Austin
*"1995" - Texas A&M University
*"1994" - University of Texas at Austin
*"1993" - University of Houston
*"1992" - Texas A&M University
*"1991" - University of Texas at Austin

Host Schools

*"2008" - University of Texas at San Antonio
*"2007" - University of Houston
*"2006" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2005" - Texas A&M University
*"2004" - University of Texas at Dallas & University of Texas at Arlington
*"2003" - University of Texas at San Antonio
*"2002" - University of Houston
*"2001" - University of Texas at Austin
*"2000" - Texas A&M University
*"1999" - University of Texas at Arlington
*"1998" - University of Texas at San Antonio
*"1997" - University of Houston
*"1996" - University of Texas at Austin
*"1995" - Texas A&M University
*"1994" - University of Texas at Arlington
*"1993" - University of Houston
*"1992" - University of Texas at Austin
*"1991" - Texas A&M University

External links

* [http://www.pstex.org Philippine Students of Texas (PST Governing Board) Webpage]
* [http://www.texasflips.org/ UT Filipino Student Association Webpage]
* [http://www.utsafsa.org/ UTSA Filipino Student Association Webpage]
* [http://www.uh-fsa.org/ UH Filipino Student Association Webpage]
* [http://philsa.tamu.edu/ Texas A&M Philippine Student Association Webpage]
* [http://www.fsadallas.com/ UTD Filipino Student Association Webpage]