The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Eighty-nine years since legendary football superstar Paulinho Alcantara retired from FC Barcelona, homegrown Filipino booters will once again step on the popular Premiere League team’s pitch, but this time for an advanced training and schooling with some of the Spanish club’s most revered coaches and trainers.
The six young Pinoy footballers, aged 10 to 12, who punched a ticket to the 12-day Astro Kem Bola Overseas Training Programme in Barcelona, Spain, starting in December are Lance Lawrence Locsin, Jared Alexander Peña, Ryan Philip Johansson, Astrid Heiress Ignacio, Mikaela Jacqueline Villacio and Jasmine Cassandra Agustin.
The team was the product of a two-month TM Football Para sa Bayan (TM FPSB) talent search organized by Globe Telecom in July and August. Globe was tapped by Astro Kasih, the corporate foundation and corporate social responsibility arm of Malaysian media and entertainment powerhouse Astro, to be its partner in discovering talented young athletes and helping further harness their craft.
Globe Director for Citizenship Fernando Esguerra expressed elation over the selection of the six players, especially after going through tough competition against other footballers from Southeast Asia. The six were among 12 Filipino players who qualified for the Astro Kem Bola camp and tryouts held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, last month, which was also participated in by 60 players from Malaysia and Singapore.
“We are so happy with the turnout, to think that this is the first time that Globe has partnered with Astro in this international activity. We are looking forward to being part of the Astro Kem Bola program again in the succeeding years,” Esguerra said. “The TM Football Para sa Bayan is now beginning to turn out quality players after four years of incubation. Hopefully, this will be an avenue for furthering the football development in the country. This is just the first step after one big, giant step.”
TM FPSB technical director and Green Archers United coach Hans Peter Smit was not surprised with the naming of the six young players to Barcelona.
“Actually, I was even thinking of seven. I personally saw the potential of these kids having supervised the program and tryouts in Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao and Muntinlupa a couple of months ago,” said Smit.
“The Filipinos have the innate talent in football. We just have to refamiliarize ourselves to it. Surely, it’s a sport where we can compete in the world at a higher level, even against the best of the best, because football is built for our speed and physique. I hope the Barcelona trip can yield two or three future Filipino football stars,” he added.
Apart from talent, among the criteria observed in the selection of the participants for the Barcelona training were teamwork; discipline, behavior and sportsmanship, communication on and off the pitch; positive attitude toward teammates, volunteers and coaches; ability to listen to instructions; and good personality.