The people's sport

At least a billion people watched the recently concluded World Cup, the most watched athletic event that is staged every four years.

With today's communications technology capable of showing all games of the quadrennial tournament live at every corner of the world, it seems football is the one thing that can unite people of different races and religions.

In Brazil, offices and schools shut down every time their team has a match. It unites people whether in the glory of victory or the agony of defeat. South Korea and Japan have already made great strides in the sport, having participated in two successive World Cups. In most Southeast Asian countries, except for the Philippines, football is the national sport.

While the whole world was glued to the World Cup, we Filipinos looked like the odd man out.

Indeed, while football is the world's most popular sport, it is not the case here. Sadly, Filipinos prefer basketball, a sport we have very little hope of excelling in. And even if we were to overtake China, the regional champion, we will definitely be unable to take on the Europeans and Americans. Height is still might.

Football, on the other hand, is something we can actually be good at. It is our natural sport. One does not need to be a six-footer. It is a game of skill, endurance and speed, all of which Filipino youth naturally possess. More vital, football is impervious to doping and the rampant use of steroids, unlike in other sports like basketball, baseball, boxing and cycling, etc. A soccer player cannot risk taking illegal substances, or else his career will be short lived.

With the help of Ambassador Lani Bernardo of Spain, I invited a coaching team from the Andalucian Football Federation to hold clinics for Filipino coaches. Led by Francisco Lopez Servio, they held a coaching course together with the Philippine Football Federation headed by National President Johnny Romualdez and Pocholo Borromeo of the NCR-FA. The ultimate aim is to build up the sport from the grassroots level, through the school systems.

Initially, the training course was held in schools in Aurora. Football clinics were organized, and footballs, nets and other equipment were distributed. In all, they trained 54 coaches all over the country from 37 provinces.

It's time our sports leaders took up this cause more vigorously and prominently. Football is one sport where we can easily excel, with the tremendous bonus of insulating our youth from the perils of drugs. If we devoted enough time, money and attention to the sport, I believe our country can become a soccer power.