MORE and better opportunities are opening up for Filipino footballers with the four-year partnership of FC Barcelona and Milo Philippines.
In the first year of their program, Milo is sending a group of kids to FCB Escola in Spain, a chance that kids of the previous generation could never even dreamed of.
Right now, there are two Cebuanos in the group, Ethan Roxas of Paref Springdale and Joseph Kyne Garces of DBTC. They joined the tryouts in Manila earlier this year and right now, are having the time of their lives in Barcelona. Not only do they get to meet some of the legends of the club and learn from them, they also get to watch La Liga matches.
According to Dr. Alvin Roxas, the boys got to train in a Miniestadi in Day 1 and their “mini stadium” is bigger than our Rizal Memorial Stadium since it seats 15,276 fans and is home to their B team and the women’s team.
Last night, the kids were set to watch a Uefa Champions League match between Barcelona and Olympiakos and on Oct. 21, they will watch a La Liga match between Malaga and Barcelona. That alone makes the whole trip worth it, an experience that will last a lifetime.
Since the tryouts were held in Manila, only a selected Cebuano kids were able to join but next year, I’ve been told that Milo will bring the tryouts here. The tryouts are conducted by coaches from FCB Escola in coordination with the Philippine Football Federation and I think the local coaches may learn a thing or two if they get a chance to observe or be part of the tryouts.
But aside from having the tryouts here, I hope Milo Philippines will really look into joining the Philippine football community by becoming its latest member. We had the Adidas Cup for the U19 and the Coke-Go-For-Goal for the U16 in the past, but no company took over when the two events folded up.
We don’t have a national tournament anymore in any division as the PFF has also stopped holding the national championship for the men’s and women’s divisions.
And this is where Milo can step in and they can even choose a younger age group than the Adidas and Coke events.