DAVAO CITY, (PNA) — A welcome crowd is awaiting the arrival of a young football player from this city who is one of the 22 members of the Philippine Under 11 boys team undergoing a three-week education and sports training program in the United Kingdom.
Albert Ryan “Abing” Lim, Philippine Football Federation (PFF) grassroots development coordinator for Mindanao, said Mark Amaikurut is part of the PHL boys that left last Aug. 23 and is expected to be back home Sept. 15.
As of press time, he said they are preparing press forum and other public appearances of Amaikurut.
Lim said UK education and training program aims, among others, to help prepare a football team that will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2019.
The other members of the PHL U11 team are Agiel John Rojo (South Cotobato), Mark Alanquihan (Dipolog), Joi Gaid Jr. (Cagayan de Oro), Greg Naquines (Cagayan de Oro), John Karl Solomo (Iloilo), Jill Pillora (Iloilo), Drexler Valencia (Negros Oriental), Ildefonso Escobin (Laguna), Robert Orr (NCR), Michael Osorio (NCR), Jacob Padernal (NCR), Nikko Guitierrez (NCR), Nicolei San Jose Abalos (Laguna), Shaninho Clemente (NCR), Vin Joel Dela Cruz (NCR). Josh Asignar (Cebu), Yuan Rena (Cebu), Tristan Enad (Cebu), Charles Unabia (Cebu) Chevey Celeste (San Carlos City, Negros Occ.) and Shemrei Marobillo (San Carlos City).
The U11 players are among the top players scouted from the nationwide Kasibulan Grassroots Development Program launched in 2012 by PFF. They were selected from among the national pool of U11 players formed after the subsequent Regional Festival of Football conducted in March of this year.
The 22-player selection was made by PFF coaches after simultaneous national pool players’ inspections in Cebu, Cagayan de Oro and Tarlac.
The PFF Kasibulan: Grassroots Football Development Program is funded by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and supported by the Department of Education (DeepEd) and the Asian Football Development Program (AFDP).
The United Kingdom has one of the best football programmes in the world. They are known for their world-class sports facilities, players, coaches and most importantly, sports education. The programme will be conducted by Loughborough University in Leicestershire, UK – one of the world’s greatest sporting Institutions. Loughborough University has the greatest concentration of high performance sports facilities than any other sports institutions in the UK.
The team is accompanied by five coaches and staff designated by the PFF. The team will have training matches with several U11 boys’ teams from the UK and get a chance to watch an English Premiere League and a World Cup qualifying match between England and Moldovia at the historic Wembley Stadium.