It was a warm early morning when the temperature was capable of hitting 37 degree celsius easily. With a simple Tagalog “Selamat” (thank you), we got off the cab with our bags full of football cones, markers and jerseys.
At one quiet corner of Quezon, the largest city in Philippines, we arrived at Carlos Albert High School where the enthusiasm and laughers could be heard at the school gate. Junpiter Futbol was there to lead a group of young coaches, as well as 30 boys and girls from the Gawad Kalinga Tatalon Football Community for a weekend of football training!
Under the invitation of SingaCup’s organizer, Dynamique Konzepts, Junpiter Futbol felt honored and was delighted to be there to share the love for the beautiful game with the kids. For a first-timer in Philippines, there would never be a much better experience than this training camp.
The time which we had spent at Quezon city was enriching and enlightening. In fact, everything which I could easily laid my hands on in Singapore, seems like a challenging task in this country with an amazing population of 92 million. Basic training equipment such as markers, cones, bibs and even football were lacking. Despite the lack of fund made available for the grassroots football development, made-shift equipment were created as the locals showed their creativities under the tough environment.
Whenever we encountered any challenge with the kids, it never failed to remind us of how fortunate the kids in Singapore were. Where we came from, probably what we have seen in Philippines would never happen. Kids running and kicking a bare and near-torn football on a field filled with stones and even rocks. Ice-cream tubs were an expensive replacement for football cones and markers, and kids trimming the grass on a football field with just a pair of old scissors in their hands just because we told them a training ground with tall grass was not conducive for training.
Unfortunately, one quarter of Philippines’ population falls below the poverty line. Poverty remains one of the most critical social problems which needs to be addressed but what we have witnessed was not exactly how we were expecting – the boys and girls greeted their daily life and showed their love for the beautiful game in the most positive way – smile.
Even Azkals’ captain, “Chieffy” Emelio Caligdong, was full of praises for the kids. The well-respected and humble captain squeezed out precious time from his hectic schedule, made his way to Quezon city, told the kids not to worry about the future while they study and train as hard as they can now. At that moment, the eyes from the kids betrayed their ambitious dreams which had been greatly inspired and unleashed by Chieffy’s few minutes’ long speech. Although we did not understand most of the conversation which was in Tagalog, the few sentences of English and the acknowledgement from the kids, were obvious and inspirational. We were equally motivated onsite.
Well, it was just a 3 days affair but the effort from the organizer and as well as Gawad Kalinga organizing committee made a difference to each and everyone of the kids. 3 days of gathering, 2 days of training and 1 day of outing bonded everyone. We wish Gawad Kalinga Tatalon Football Community all the best. To all the kids in the football camp, train hard and style your beautiful game with your dream.
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