Believing it is one of the sports where Filipinos can better excel in, the Henry V. Moran Foundation has joined hands with premier real estate developer DMCI Homes to stimulate the grassroots development of futsal in the Philippines.
The Moran Foundation, which works closely with Philippine Football Federation, public schools and charitable organizations in promoting the development of futsal in the country, hopes to make use of sports amenities of residential condominium communities to develop more futsal players in the country.
FIFA Futsal Elite Referee and Futsal Coach Rey Ritaga, who is the first Filipino national player to ever officiate in a FIFA Futsal World Cup event said he sees better potential for Filipinos to excel in futsal compared to other sports because of its system of play.
“I believe we have better chances in this sport because first of all a futsal ball is denser and has less bounce compared to football which means it is played mostly on the ground,” explained Ritaga, in reference to the 5-a-side indoor football played on basketball courts and small open space.
“So we don’t need big players to play the sport. In futsal, a player can excel as long as he or she is armed with the necessary skills like dribbling, scoring, speed and teamwork,” he added.
Kevin Goco, Futsal Department Head of the PFF and volunteer of the Moran Foundation said they are planning to stage pick-up games in selected DMCI Homes condo communities to generate interest for futsal.
The group has also started conducting clinics for kids aged 4-12 years in DMCI Homes’ Zinnia Towers development in Quezon City beginning May 2018.
But more than promoting futsal, Goco said building character among the Filipino youth is the ultimate goal of the foundation in propagating the sport in the country.
“Things like teaching them confidence, how to communicate, how to deal with one another and the team. Things that will help them when they’re in school and eventually when they’re going to work for an organization. It’s all about teamwork,” Goco related.
“And this type of sport really teaches that: teamwork, communication, values, discipline, and respect. How do we deal with mistakes? How do we deal with failure? This is the beauty of sports and it should be essential in any community development program. So we’re very happy that DMCI Homes has agreed to bring this sporting program to its communities,” he continued.
Founded by businessman Danny Moran, who was a former Philippine national team football player, the Moran Foundation has focused on the modalities of football and futsal as means to achieve its mission of empowering children especially the underprivileged by developing their leadership, character, values and life skills.
“The sport requires quicker decision making, better decision making on the court. Since you touch the ball more often compared to football, you need to make decisions faster. In a way it helps develop the player more technically if they want to play football eventually,” Moran pointed out.
“Some of the best players in the world, Lionel Messi, Pelé, Cristiano Ronaldo, they all started playing futsal when they were young. So we really want to advocate this type of modality, this type of sport for Filipinos. Given the fact that we have the areas to play futsal, it just takes more futsal programs for us to allow football to eventually improve also,” Moran further shared.
DMCI Homes President Alfredo Austria for his part said the collaboration with PFF and the Moran Foundation is in line with the company’s mission of providing a learning environment for residents of its residential condominium communities through engagement in sports activities.
“Most of our projects have a basketball court and other sports amenities because we believe that they are great learning tools for residents. Not only do sports build character, sports also help promote interaction among residents which is good for community building,” he disclosed.
