THE SECOND staging of Milo and FC Barcelona’s “Road to Barcelona” program came to a conclusion recently with the people behind it hailing it as another “success” with the goals they have set for the program having been met.
In line with Milo and FCB’s shared vision of seeing children live better lives through a more healthy and active lifestyle and anchored on the HEART (humility, effort, ambition, respect, and teamwork) values they champion, the program saw another batch of select children train, learn, and play football under the guidance of the FCB Youth Academy in Barcelona, Spain.
From Nov. 4 to 12, Filipino kids who were selected from the invitational camp mounted by organizers joined their counterparts from different parts of the world in taking part in a once-in-lifetime, world-class football training.
Making up the team from the Philippines were Lien Dale D. Manuel (Vicente Lim Elementary School), Heaven Andrei N. Teodosio (Ilaya Barangka Integrated School of Mandaluyong City), Juan Pablo S. Unlay (Ateneo de Manila), Alexander David C. Villarosa (University of San Jose-Recoletos), Breindel O. Medina (Ateneo de Davao Junior High School), Tristan Ybañez (Sacred Heart School Ateneo De Cebu), Dylan Theodore O. Wong (Key School Manila), Carlo Antonio D. Bongocan (Rosevale School), Jelena Loren I. Soon (Singapore School Cebu), and Daniel Isaac N. Cagaanan (Koronadal Central Elementary School I).
Milo said to make it more “purposive” specifically for the team from the Philippines, it set up a friendly match with local club Fundacion Marcet Football Academy so as the kids could use what they learn from the FCB camp in an actual match.
“The second year is another success. We’ve learned a lot from last year’s trip so this year I would say we really made it purposive in terms of designing it in a way that they would really apply their learnings,” said Robbie De Vera, Milo Philippines consumer marketing manager, in an interview with BusinessWorld when asked how they would characterize the second staging of the Road to Barcelona program.
“The key difference from this year from last was the game we set up on our own against Fundacion Marcet which was really not part of the program as the Philippines was the only one which took part in this. What we did was we coordinated with the local club to make short it was set up. And the whole point was for the kids to be able to physically apply what they were learning in the camp in a match-like situation. And it was a complete success,” he added.
The second of what is set to be a four-year program, Mr. De Vera said they are looking forward to the next editions of Road to Barcelona.
“We believe in this program which is why we are supporting it. Milo and FCB believe in the same value, the HEART values, and youth development through sports and we intend to keep on doing this,” he said.
Apart from junior booters from the Philippines, also joining training sessions with FCB Youth Academy’s coaches were delegates from Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Maldives, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
