Alaska reaffirms its commitment in providing a sustainable program for youth sports and development in the country. With football's growing popularity in the local sports scene, Alaska sponsored five Futkalero children to a world class sports workshop - the FCBEscola Philippines Barcelona Soccer Camp.
Please read on as Alaska shares how it is to train under the guidance of the world renowned FCBarcelona.
PRESS RELEASE
ALASKA TIES UP WITH FCBESCOLA FOOTBALL
CAMP, SPONSORS FUTKALERO CHILDREN FROM TONDO
 |
| Alaska
Milk Corporation brings FCBEscola, the world’s No. 1 ranked football club here
in the Philippines
to help develop children through sports programs such as the FCBEscola
Barcelona Camp. The FCBEscola Barcelona Camp has already begun training kids
last April 17 and will continue until April 21 at the Ayala Alabang Country
Club. |
What
is better than playing against one of the best football clubs in the world? Being
trained by them.
Never
in a million years did they thought that they will be able to see the world’s
#1 ranked football club, FCBarcelona, in action, much less interact with them.
But these promising young football talents from Tondo did just that and more.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Alaska Milk Corporation, the five Futkaleros—
Champ Cyrus Wico, Jonas Lorens Lavarias, John David Espiritu, Maria Rochel
Mendaňo, and Roger Batiugas— were able to train under the FCBarcelona coaches Jordi Blanco and Jose Moratalla during the FCBEscola
Philippines Barcelona Soccer Camp for the youth, a sports workshop that did not
only aim to teach Filipino kids the rudiments and techniques in the game but
also share with them the FCBarcelona values of teamwork and hard work.
“Alaska
has been there from the very start, even at that time when football was not
very popular. It has been supporting the grassroots development of the sport
and in training players. The annual Alaska Cup, is in fact, the biggest cup in
the country, with thousands of players in a single day. So we were not
surprised that Alaska lent their support to this project,” says Michael Reyes,
organizer of the camp and Team Socceroo’s captain.
Training under World’s Best
Excitement
lit up the eyes of the five Futkaleros as they showed their moves to the
coaches. They believe that the camp is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
improve their game, learn some new skills and incorporate a new strategy into
their play. According to Reyes, the style of the Futkaleros is more freestyle.
“I have seen them play and their commitment to the game is impressive. I know
that they practice every day. They’re fast. They’re agile. Participating in the
camp will help them develop their play more.”
What
kids will take away from the five-day camp is not just technique but the
values: that football is not about winning but in playing your best and playing
with your team. Steven Chua, Operations Director for FCBEscola Asia Pacific,
relates, “I remembered a FCBarcelona camp in Singapore that we organized. After
the camp, I asked one of the kids what he learned. He told me he learned the
reasons why he has to move here, why he has to make a pass. Before, he just
does it because he has to without even knowing why. He also learned that football
is not about winning but playing the game.”
More
than a hundred kids, 6 to 14 years old, signed up for the camp held recently at
the Alabang Country Club. They did not even mind the extra-ordinarily hot day,
showing off their skills on the field, all of them eager to train under the
very best in the world. World famous players Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi were all
products of FCBEscola
Built not as important as technique
According
to the organizers, the Futkaleros have the typical Filipino built, which unlike
basketball, is suited to football. Filipinos are not as tall as other kids but
they compensate with their incredible speed and agility. FCBarcerlona has
members who have similar built but are still able to excel. In football, built
is not as important as technique.
“The
style of football of FCBarcelona is the ‘most fit’ and ‘most matched’ [style]
with Filipinos. They do not rely on size. In other sports, if you are big,
you’d be a better player. In football, we rely more on technique, the passing,
how the team plays. FCBarcelona’s style of football is not very
individualistic. It emphasizes team play,” says Nicholas Reyes, FCBEscola camp
organizer.
Wanted: Healthy body, good attitude
and passion
There
is also no age requirement, just a healthy body, good attitude and passion for
the sport. Reyes emphasized good nutrition at an early age “as this will give
children an edge in the sport.” Both exercise and proper diet are essential,
especially to the significant number of Filipino kids, who have been found to
suffer from undernutrition and overweight problems (National Nutrition Survey
of FNRI-DOST, 2008). It is recommended that they eat a balanced set of meals
and do more physical activity, which Alaska Milk Corporation has been
advocating through their sports programs.
