Living, loving football the Barca way
UEFA -licensed coach Jordi Roca conducts a lecture for camp participants in Cebu City over the weekend. —ROMINA S. AUSTRIA
CEBU CITY—The young audience cheered while watching videos of FC Barcelona matches—louder everytime Leo Messi appeared on screen.
The activity kicked off the second edition of the “Milo FCB Road to Barcelona” football training camp held at Cebu City Sports Center over the weekend.
From a total of 160 football players aged 7 to 12 years old, nine will be chosen. Together with five others picked last year, they will fly to Barcelona, Spain, in November to attend an eight-day training at Camp Nou, home stadium of the FCB.
The videos were effective in getting the children’s attention as they enthusiastically participated in the lectures conducted by Jordi Roca and Albert Fernandez, licensed coaches of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and youth mentors at the FCB Escola Youth Football Academy.
“In every camp that we lead, we emphasize the importance of heart—humility, effort, ambition, respect and teamwork,” said Roca.
According to Fernandez, the Barcelona camp aims to provide young players worldwide a taste of the FCB training.
“We don’t force kids or pressure them into becoming like Messi or some other football superstar,” said Fernandez. “We want them to enjoy the experience. If they decide they really want to become a football player, then that’s the time to instill training values.”
“Only continuous training will open up possibilities for growth. Messi didn’t just become good. He trained a lot.”
Milo’s consumer marketing manager, Robbie de Vera, said Nestle is committed to developing values in children with their sports programs.
“We saw how last year’s batch developed into better individuals, not just in terms of playing skills, but also in the social aspect,” said De Vera.
The names of the Camp Nou participants will be bared within the month based on their skills (30 percent) and values (70 percent).
“We want the kids to emerge from the camp more confident, more disciplined,” said Roca.
