Featured

Optimal Athletics Inc. is pushing the sports industry to the next level with Cherry Turf

By Annika Caniza - November 07, 2022

We all know that sports cover more than just the games we see on TV. It’s an entire lifestyle—and it’s one that Optimal Athletics Inc. aims to take to the next level.

Optimal Athletics Inc. (OAI) is a recreational sports startup company whose goal is to promote sports, recreational, and social activities in the country. And to do so, they are constructing and establishing recreational sports facilities around the metro.

CEO and President of OAI, Kevin James Olayvar, along with Chairman, Raf Gastador, are starting with their first major project: Cherry Turf.

IMG 2184 1
From left to right: OAI Chairman Raf Gastador, The GAME Editor-in-Chief Amanda Fernandez, OAI CEO and President Kevin James Olayvar, The GAME Founding Publisher James Leonard Cruz

Turf Up Top

Optimal Athletics Inc. has been working on their first project for some time now, and they are looking forward to its launch. “Our first major project is a football pitch located at SM Cherry Shaw in Mandaluyong, supported by our venue partner, SM Malls,” the OAI team shares.

Given its location, the football pitch is called Cherry Turf.

With this new football pitch, OAI is able to make recreational sports facilities more accessible, especially in a city where space and fields are limited. The convenient location will make it easy for many athletes around Metro Manila to play at their convenience.

But apart from this, they also hope to deliver innovative experiences with next-level ideas.

In keeping with this, Cherry Turf will be the first rooftop football pitch that uses FIFA-preferred producer, LIMONTA Artificial Turf. Here, they plan on hosting different events for both football and non-football enthusiasts.

Cherry Turf

With the existing community that the team of OAI has built from different events they have hosted in the past, they plan on creating a league or series that will eventually become the staple event at Cherry Turf. But, they are not only focusing on the sports side of it all.

The Sports Lifestyle

In addition to their goals to improve football in the country, they also plan to create new opportunities for different groups of people.

With this, they plan to develop the entire rooftop, and not just the pitch, in order to foster an environment that is welcome to all—a place where people can sit back, relax, eat, and drink, all while enjoying the sport right in the middle of the city.

Though the turf itself is still in development, Cherry Turf will open on December 9, 2022—right in the middle of all the FIFA World Cup action.

All of this comes back to OAI’s main goal of pushing the development of sports and the Philippine sports industry to the next level.

“Together, we will create opportunities and help mold the development of sports in the
Philippines by connecting with different partnerships that share the same vision of creating a new path for sports in the country for years to come
,the Optimal Athletics Inc. team emphasizes.