Guam Football Association executives officially approved the nomination of Micah Paulino for General Secretary of the organization in an Executive Committee meeting held Tuesday evening at the GFA National Training Center conference room.

“I’ve always felt that I owe GFA for the opportunities afforded to me and that eventually, I would give back to the sport which has developed me as an individual,” Paulino said. “I truly appreciate the confidence President Tino San Gil and the GFA Executive Committee members have in me to take on the responsibilities of this vital role. It’s clear how much football in Guam has grown in all aspects over the years and I am grateful for all the work that has been done by current and past executives for Guam’s players, coaches, officials, staff, and football fans. I look to essentially build on that foundation and work to accelerate football as the leading sport in Guam.

“I want to share the experiences that helped shape me as a player and as a person and collaborate with all stakeholders to effectuate positive changes that will make the sport more easily accessible to the community,” Paulino added.

Paulino takes on the post vacated by Tino San Gil, who recently won GFA’s presidential election in an Extraordinary Congress held earlier this month. San Gil tapped and presented Paulino as his top nomination for the position at the meeting.

“When considering options for nominations for the position, I felt that Micah was my top candidate,” San Gil said. “His energy, his passion for football and for Guam, as well as his enthusiasm to make a difference in our community through the sport stood out for me when making my selection. Additionally, he is a shining example of a successful individual who has ascended through Guam’s elite player pathway, which is at the heart of our mission at GFA. Micah started in our youth league, progressed to youth national teams, earned a college scholarship, and played for Guam at the highest level, all the while applying life skills learned during his formative years in the sport to develop into a respectable person who truly values integrity.

“As we continue to focus on youth development, we want success stories like Micah’s more commonplace rather than rare. He’s come full circle and now is at the heart of governance within GFA. It’s the start of our shift to usher in the next generation,” San Gil added.


Paulino, one of Guam’s most highly decorated football athletes, started playing the sport when he was three years old for the Guam Shipyard Wolverines in the Robbie Webber youth league. As he progressed, he was eventually recruited to play for youth national teams before making his debut at the senior level at age 15. He most recently played for Guam in November 2016 when the Matao competed in the EAFF E-1 Football Championship semifinal round in Hong Kong. Paulino also successfully earned an AFC “C” Coaching License the same year.

Paulino, a 2010 graduate of Father Duenas Memorial School, helped his high school alma mater to championships in the IIAAG Boys High School Soccer League his freshman and senior years. He earned championship game MVP honors his senior year on top of his selection by league coaches as a first-team midfielder on the IIAAG Boys High School Soccer League All-Island listing. His long list of football accolades up to that point helped secure scholarships to Niagara University in Buffalo, New York and a spot on the NCAA Division I school’s roster as an attacking midfielder.

In his second season at university, he assisted the game-winning goal in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference final. As conference champions, the team automatically earned a berth in the NCAA D1 Men’s Soccer Championship – the first time ever in the university’s 43-year history, the Niagara University Athletics Web site states.

Paulino graduated from Niagara University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and a minor in Finance in 2014 and next earned his Masters of Public Administration two years later at the University of Guam.

Paulino is also a platoon leader of the Guam Army National Guard’s 1224th Engineer Support Company.