CLOSE to 600 children, mostly underprivileged, will converge in a day of futsal fun in the Generation Amazing Festival-Sama Sama Games 2018 on Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Sisters of Mary School Girlstown in Talisay City.
The children and youth footballers will be joined by community leaders and coaches from around the country in an advocacy to use football for greater inclusivity and opportunity.
“We want to unite people through football. Football is for everyone. I hope we can start a new beginning here in Cebu and have a far bigger stage than before,” said FundLife International managing director Marko Kasic.
FundLife is Philippine-based non-profit NGO that uses play and sports to provide psycho-social support, teach life skills, enhance academic performance and cultivate self-directed learning among kids that come from poor, disaster-prone and conflict-affected communities.
FundLife was set up in the country in 2015 to help out the kids who were affected by Typhoon Yolanda, which ravaged Tacloban City in 2013.
The futsal tournament is backed by Generation Amazing, a football-focused corporate social development program of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar’s delivery and legacy authority for the 2022 World Cup. It is also supported locally by Rachel Genco and Giuseppe FC, who also has a similar drive here in Cebu.
The futsal tournament features the following categories - Mixed 7, Mixed 9, Mixed 11, Boys 13, Boys 15, Boys 17, Girls 15 and Girls 18. There will be over 72 teams with players from Cebu, Bayawan, Pampanga, Bacolod and Davao. A total of 36 trophies are up for grabs.
Aside from the Sama Sama Games 2018, there will also be the launching of the Community Football Girls League on Saturday, Dec. 8, at the Don Bosco Pasil.
The league hopes to promote greater access to sports and education for girls living in at risk communities. Four teams will be playing on opening day—Guardian Strikers FC, Sisters of Mary School Girlstown, Abellana National School and a team from Tacloban City. EKA