Metro Manila Youth Football League. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The Metro Manila Youth Football League (MMYFL) gets going this weekend at Blue Pitch in Circuit, Makati, with organizers hoping to widen participation in the sport at the grassroots level.
“I believe that sports are very powerful in terms of uplifting a community [and] a nation. If we [get] to see the Filipinos play in the World Cup, we cheer for them.” said beach volleyball star Bea Tan, one of the organizers of the event.
“I think sports is a really powerful tool to inspire the entire nation,” she said.
A total of 88 various football teams with different age groups scheduled per day will participate in the tournament, which the organizing Makati Football Club hopes will encourage more kids to get into the sport.
“What we want them to see [while playing the game] is to have fun. “ Tan said. “We [hope to] give them a great experience and I hope that it opens up new doors for them, gets their skills and love for the game even more, even better.”
“The value towards the community, the nation, throughout the world—it’s very important,” she added.
The tournament, which will be played Saturday and Sunday, is backed by Purefoods, Pocari Sweat and Sunplay Sunscreen.
The Inquirer is a media partner of the event and full features on the two-day sportsfest will run on the paper’s digital platform, INQPlus.
The tournament hopes to revive the grassroots program started by Makati Football Club founder Tomas Lozano, a former Philippine team standout who saw action for Real Madrid in Spain. Lozano began the grassroots program in 1976. The event’s last iteration ended when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.