Let Dimzon

Marnelli "Let" Salvador Dimzon (born November 22, 1979[1]) is a Filipina football coach and former player. She is currently the head coach of Kaya Women's. She is also an assistant coach of the Philippine women's national team and had served as their head coach on two stints.

In this Philippine name for married women, the birth surname or paternal family name is Salvador, and the marital name is Dimzon

Let Dimzon
Personal information
Full name Marnelli Salvador Dimzon
Date of birth (1979-11-22) November 22, 1979
Place of birth Valenzuela, Metro Manila, Philippines[1]
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Kaya Women's (head coach)
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 FEU Lady Booters
International career
1998–2008 Philippines
c. 2009 Philippines (futsal)
Managerial career
2010–2016 FEU Lady Booters
c. 2014 Philippines U14 (women)
2016 Philippines U16 (women)
2017 Philippines (women)
2018–2019 Philippines (women)
2019– Kaya Women's
2021– Philippines U18 (women)
2022– Philippines (women) (assistant)

A midfielder, Dimzon played in the collegiate level for the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraw Booters with whom she won back-to-back UAAP titles: in season 63 (2000–01), in which she was the most valuable player (MVP), and in season 64 (2001–02). Internationally, she played for the Philippine women's national team in the 2003 AFC Women's Championship and four Southeast Asian Games from 2001 to 2007.

Becoming head coach of the FEU Lady Tamaraw Booters in 2010, she led them to the UAAP Season 73 (2010–11) title and the three-peat in seasons 75 (2012–13) through 77 (2014–15). She had also served as head coach of the Philippine women's national team in the youth and senior levels. In 2019, she also became head coach of Kaya Women's.

Early and personal life

Marnelli "Letlet" Salvador was born on November 22, 1979 in Valenzuela, Metro Manila.[1][2] Her father was a tricycle driver while her mother was a food vendor. She was a track and field athlete from grade school until her freshman year at Far Eastern University in Manila.[2]

She married fellow footballer Jimmy Dimzon in 2004; they have one daughter.[2]

Playing career

College

In 1998, when she was a sophomore at Far Eastern University (FEU), she joined the FEU Lady Tamaraw Booters of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). In the UAAP Season 63 (2000–01) finals series, FEU defeated the De La Salle Lady Booters who were favorites to win after sweeping the elimination round. Salvador was awarded the most valuable player (MVP) award for her performance.[2] In the following season, she contributed to FEU's title defense, where they again faced De La Salle in the final.[3] In 2002, she dropped out from FEU after failing a math course. She then decided to go into coaching. Nine years later, in 2011, she decided to return to college and earned her financial management degree in 2013.[2]

International

Dimzon was part of the Philippines women's national football team and played as early as 1980s when the team was still coached by Orlando Plagata.[4][2] She took part in the 2003 AFC Women's Championship.[5] She was part of the squad that played 4 times at the Southeast Asian Games in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007.[2][6] She was part of the national team until 2008.[7]

Dimzon was also part of the Irok Women's futsal team under head coach Emmanuel Batungbacal.[8] In 2017, she attended a coaching seminar dedicated for women coaches in China.[9]

Style of play

Marielle Benitez, Dimzon's national team teammate and former collegiate rival, described her as a "fast player who could play in the center or on the wings. She could deliver crosses accurately [and] she was also one of the best headers."[2]

Coaching career

Her coaching career began when she was still a college student. She needed a part-time job due to her parents' having difficulties to provide her financial needs during college.[7]

Sometime after putting her collegiate studies on hold in 2002, then women's national team head coach Marlon Maro offered her coaching assignments in the grassroots level.[2] After her five-year stint with the national team, Dimzon decided to fully pursue her coaching career.[7]

In 2014, Dimzon accomplished and bested an international coaching course by the German Football Federation which was attended by 29 participants.[7]

FEU Lady Booters

Dimzon later served as assistant coach for the FEU Lady Booters under Malou Rubio from 2005 to 2009 and Kim Chul-soo in 2009. She was appointed as head coach of the FEU women's team in 2010. Under her watch FEU won three consecutive titles (UAAP Seasons 75, 76, and 77)[2] They also won in UAAP Season 73.

Philippines girls youth

Dimzon led the girl's under-14 national team to the finals of the AFC U-14 Girls ASEAN Regional Championship. They ended up as runners-up of the tournament with Thailand beating them in the finals. The feat was the best performance of their age group.[10][11]

She coached the under-16 team which participated at the 2017 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualifiers.[9]

Philippines senior women

In July 2017 it was reported that Dimzon was appointed as head coach of the Philippines women's senior team and is tasked to mentor the team at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games which is to take place the next month.[9] She was formally succeeded by English coach, Richard Boon in November 2017.[12] Dimzon was appointed back into the post on August 23, 2018, standing in for Buda Bautista who declined from resuming her post due to scheduling conflict. Dimzon was appointed with the condition that the Rizal Memorial Stadium made available for training use by the national team to help her deal with her commitments with the Far Easter University and other clubs. For her second senior national team stint, Dimzon will lead the Philippines in the 2020 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[13]

In 2022, she was appointed as assistant coach.[14]

Kaya Women

In July 2019, Dimzon was announced as head coach of Kaya.[15] She led them to a sweep of the 2022 SingaCup's Women Football Championship—their first eleven-a-side campaign, as well as their international debut.[16]

Honors

Player
FEU Lady Booters

Coach
FEU Lady Booters
Philippines U14
  • AFC U-14 Girls ASEAN Regional Championship: Runner-up 2014
Kaya
  • SingaCup's Women Football Championship: 2022

(*) Also Champions of the 2014 PFF Women's Cup, but the edition followed a 9-a-side format.

References
  1. "Women's Full National Team". Philfootballinfo.com. Philippine Football Federation. Archived from the original on June 30, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  2. Quintos, Bea (February 6, 2016). "Marnelli Dimzon is in a league of her own". Tiebreaker Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  3. Atencio, Peter (February 19, 2002). "Golden goal earns FEU XI women's title". Manila Standard. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  4. "Women's Football pioneer endures 23-hour flight to back Filipinas". Tiebreaker Times. July 20, 2023. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
  5. "Women's football is hot". Manila Standard. June 1, 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  6. Beltran, Nelson (November 30, 2007). "Lady booters favored over Laos in SEAG opener". The Philippine Star. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  7. Reyes, Jaelle Nevin (December 16, 2016). "From collegiate football star to topnotch coach". The Manila Times. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  8. Olivares, Rick (February 9, 2009). "Unfair Play". Bleacher's Brew. Business Mirror. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  9. Montayre, Mia (July 17, 2017). "Let Dimzon takes over as Women's Football Team head coach". Tiebreaker Times. Tiebreaker Times, Inc. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  10. "AFC U-14 GIRLS REGIONAL C'SHIP (ASEAN): SINGAPORE 0-6 PHILIPPINES". Asian Football Confederation. July 11, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  11. "Despite second-place finish for U14 girls, future bright for PHL women's football". GMA News. June 18, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
  12. Estrada, Kevin (November 27, 2017). "PFF formally taps Richard Boon to take charge of the Malditas for the Women's Asian Cup". Dugout Philippines. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  13. Estrada, Kevin (August 23, 2018). "Let Dimzon back as Malditas gaffer for the Olympic qualifiers". Dugout Philippines. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  14. "Filipinas Head To Australia For SEA Games Preparations". Philippine Football Federation. March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  15. "Kaya FC to hold tryouts for Inaugural Women's Team". The Daily Guardian. July 23, 2019. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  16. Del Carmen, Lorenzo (October 21, 2022). "Kaya-Iloilo rules SingaCup with impressive sweep". Tiebreaker Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
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