FCBEscola football camp gives hope to Filipino kids

MANILA, Philippines - In 2008, a development advocate-cum-sports enthusiast started filming Happyland, an indie movie about Futkaleros – young, barefoot boys in Tondo, Manila who were being taught to play futkal or “football sa kalye (street football).”

Just as he was finishing the film, Azkals, the national football team of the Philippines, beat defending champion Vietnam in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup and made their mark on the international football stage.

The win put the Philippines on the global football map and now,
the Filipinos’ love for the game has become too strong. A few years after the debut of Happyland, almost every Filipino kid, whether on exclusive football fields or slum streets, is playing football.

Indeed, it is becoming the next national sport.

From April 17 to 21, coaches from the FCBEscola of FC Barcelona and handpicked local coaches from Team Socceroo have been conducting an intensive soccer camp for 148 boys and girls, aged 6 to 14 at the Alabang Country Club in Ayala Alabang Village.

The camp offers youth an opportunity to gain first-hand experience of FC Barcelona’s philosophy and playing style.

World-class football players Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi are products of FCBEscola of Barcelona themselves.

Alaska Milk Corp. goes beyond selling milk by sponsoring sports development programs such as FCBEscola Camp Philippines.

It believes that a combination of proper nutrition, action/training, and the right attitude/values help children develop into champions.

“Nutrition is very important at the very young age. It gives edge in the development,” says Michael Reyes, FCBEscola Camp Philippines organizer and Team Socceroo’s team captain and director, as he thanked Alaska for being one of the major sponsors of the event.

“Proper nutrition and sports go hand-in-hand in developing football players.”

Held at the Acacia Hotel in Alabang on the camp’s first day, FCBEscola trainers Jordi Blanco and Jose Moratalla, and FCBEscola Asia-Pacific operations director Steven Chua joined the Reyes siblings at the FCBEscola Camp Philippines press conference.

“If they want to play football, they should learn to train hard,” says Blanco, encouraging the Filipino youth to “do what they can.”

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Enzo Lucindo, 9, joined the camp because FC Barcelona is his favorite team. “Definitely, we would enroll in the FCBEscola Camp anywhere in the world!” says Myca Lucindo, Enzo’s mom. “Good thing it’s in the Philippines so it’s the best time to be a part of it. Once we learned that it was going to be held here, we really grabbed the opportunity,” she adds.

Lucindo enthuses that because of football camps her son has attended, he has learned strategy, skills, discipline, hard work, teamwork, confidence and patience. “Win or lose, what is important is he does his best in every game that he would play,” she says.

Blen Fernando, Alaska’s vice president for marketing, says, “Football may not be the No. 1 sport in the Philippines right now but it is growing, and Alaska is committed to support the sport in the country.”

The milk brand is sponsoring five children from Futkal, now an established football development program for the poor youth of Tondo.

John David Espiritu, one of the five Futkaleros, idolizes FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi but gets inspiration from the first generation of Futkaleros, who now takes part in coaching the youngsters.

“Sumali po ako para matuto mag-soccer (I joined Futkal because I wanted to learn soccer),” says Espiritu, now one of Futkal’s best members in terms of skills and attitude.

“Natuto po ako ng communication, teamwork, passing, discipline (I learned communication, teamwork, passing, and discipline),” he adds.

“Futkal’s main aim is to spread the game in a very fun and recreational way,” says Peter Amores, Futkal’s head coach.

“It’s more of the camaraderie, for children to just be themselves and play the sport. It also inspires the Futkaleros’ peers to get into sports and stay away from the negative aspects,” especially since they live in an infamous area in Manila. The children’s ages range from eight to 20.

The first-generation Futkaleros are now old enough to teach the younger children. “They are now passing the skills to the younger ones who are now participating in the FCB Football Camp,” says Amores.