2 PH kids earn slots to Bayern Munich training camp

JM Mitra and Aeron Tenollar (first and fourth from left) are among the 15 chosen to attend the FC Bayern Munich junior camp later this month. Also in photo are Konrad Sollorin, Jasper Beruan, Jeofrey Fresado and Bayern mascot Berni. —ROMINA S. AUSTRIA

BALI, INDONESIA—Jan Meir Mitra, who studies at La Salle Zobel, and Aeron Tenollar, son of a watch repair man from Baguio City, were among the 15 out of 49 participants in the 2017 Allianz Junior Football Camp picked to attend training camp with FC Bayern Munich in Germany from Aug. 17 to 22.

After the awarding of certificates and medals at Finns Recreation Club here, a sobbing Mitra ran toward his parents, Jerome and Mylene.

“I’m very, very, very much looking forward to my Germany trip,” said Mitra, who first played futsal at age eight “just for fun.”

Tenollar, 14 years old like Mitra, kicks plastic bottles on his way to Baguio City High School—a playful act that led him to football.

“This is really a surprise,” said Tenollar, who is excited to meet FC Bayern’s Arjen Robben. “I’ll have a video chat with my mother to tell her the good news.”

“At the end of the day, we did not look for the next Leo Messi,” said former FC Bayern striker and camp special instructor Giovane Elber through an interpreter, referring to the Argentine superstar of FC Barcelona.

“We instilled in them will power, how much they wanted to win, to not be afraid of committing mistakes but instead embrace those mistakes and learn from them.”