Ano pa ba ang ibang sport ni Gaby Dela Merced? | Surprise Guest with Pia Arcangel
Athletic girly naman pala si Gaby Dela Merced! Ano nga ba ang ginagawa sa kanyang sport na ‘Flag Football?’
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00:00You mentioned also, Gabby, that you've always been a very athletic person.
00:05What other sports do you do?
00:07Well, I'm back into flag football, I'd like to say that's what I'm really, really focused
00:13on now.
00:14I'm wearing my art t-shirt.
00:15Basically, flag football, I got into it years ago, then I stopped, then late last year,
00:23I was roped back in because flag football was introduced as one of the new sports for
00:29LA Olympics 2028.
00:31So they made a national team, and then I was honored to be part of it.
00:37We went to Malaysia to compete in the Asia-Oceania IFAF Championships.
00:43Since then, we've been training heavily for that with the goal of, you know, 2028.
00:52Oh, so you're doing that now alongside racing?
00:55Yes.
00:56Yes.
00:57Oh, wow!
00:58You're really busy, Gabby!
00:59But what is flag football?
01:01Is it like American football, or is it more like...
01:04Yes, yes.
01:05Okay.
01:06It's exactly like that, with the difference that you use flags to pull instead of tack
01:11plate.
01:12But in a team, is it mixed, like both males and females in one team, or you have a men's
01:16team and you have a women's team?
01:18You have a men's team and a women's team for the format of the Olympics, yes.
01:24And they chose the five-format, because there are sevens and eights, which technically has
01:30contact, except you don't have pads, which is a bit intense and fun.
01:37But they chose the five-format because it's a very different format.
01:43It's very skill-based, heavy on the mechanics or the plays.
01:48So technique is very important for fives.
01:52Gabby, it's like there's no stopping you.
01:54I mean, you're racing, you're playing flag football.
01:58Do you ever see yourself retiring from any of the things that keep you busy right now?
02:06Yes, because my clear focus is on hitting that goal, and I hope to qualify for 2028.
02:14And after that, I'll just look at it.
02:19So right now, the focus is more on flag football?
02:21Yes, yes, that's been the goal.
02:25We just came from a tournament.
02:28It was an amazing experience.
02:30So this guy, Cameron Bynum, he's a Phil-Am based in the States, he's an NFL player from
02:38the Vikings.
02:39He loves his roots, has been coming here for the past three years, I think two or three
02:45years, and has been doing camps, teaching and providing for people over here.
02:51Then for the first time, he watched a camping tournament, where he brought up-notch coaches
02:56from the States.
02:58And then a lot of teams flew in, a lot of countries from all over Asia came in for the
03:04tournament.
03:05And then we just had it around a couple of weeks ago.
03:08Oh, wow.
03:09When was it?
03:10Yes, yeah.
03:11It was tough because we've been wanting to compete against Japan, because they're one
03:18of the best in the world.
03:20And the last IFA, they weren't in our division, so we weren't able to compete with them.
03:26And oh, wow, it was an experience.
03:28But anyway, with a series of events, because we were playing under Manila, then we were
03:34on semis.
03:35We were second, so we played against Malaysia.
03:38Then we were waiting for the championships.
03:40Japan was playing against Cebu, of Japan being the first.
03:45And then there was an upset, like Cebu won by one, so great.
03:49So both from the Philippines ended up on the finals at the Super Bowl.
03:55And then, we won the championship.
03:58Congratulations!
04:00Good luck.