Manila street kids capture U-16 crown

Holistic Education Center (Hed Center) continued its dominance of this year’s Mosman Cup, adding one more title to its name on Sunday to finish with four, but the final day of competitions belonged to a “spartan” team of street boys from Malate, Manila who came home with the under-16 crown.

Achievers Football Club-Spartans (AFC-Spartans), playing with ordinary rubber shoes— some even without socks—and in shirts that barely pass for uniform, bested the Nomads Junior Football Academy in a shootout after regulation ended at 1-1.

Revect Lagarto scored the winning goal for AFC-Spartans to settle the shootout at 3-2, in the most exciting game of the two-day football tournament for children six to 16 years old.

It was the first championship in a major tournament for the team put together by coach Julius Geronimo to wean the boys away from Manila’s streets and give them a shot at a better future.

Geronimo said the team used to take part only in barangay tournaments because they had no money for registration fees in other tournaments. Mosman Cup, presented by Wyeth, charges no registration fees, enabling underprivileged teams to take part in the competitions.

“Bagging this championship means a lot for my players,” Geronimo said. “These unprivileged boys [did] not come home empty-handed, but with medals and a trophy, a lot of joy in their hearts, and a great sense of achievement,” he said.

Hed Center added the under-14 title in the girls’ division to its string of championships by beating International School Manila, 2-0. On Saturday, Hed Center won the championships in the under-10, under-8, and under-6 brackets in the boys’ division.

British School Manila defeated Nayon ng Kabataan, 3-0, to win the boys under-14 title while Nomads Lightning walloped sister team Nomads Thunder, 4-0, to bag the under-16 crown for girls.

Other big winners in this year’s Mosman Cup were Miriam College and Saint Pedro Poveda College in the under-10 and under-12 category for girls and Nomads Junior football Club in the mixed under-18 category.

Jena Fetalino, president of the Mosman Communications, which organized the tournament, thanked all the participating teams and the tournament sponsors.