I was observing the video posts of coaches Melchor Anzures, who have been training young football players, along with Manny Yu and Alvic Troyo, at an indoor facility.
If you can recall, these three former football standouts-turned coaches, are among the hundreds of products of the Davao Football Association (DFA) program set by coach Jose “Sensei” Te, president Victorio “Manong Vic” Sai and manager Edward “Chaya” Lam.
But these three former standouts never trained indoors.
They all did their training at the old PTA field in the 1990s where you can also find regularly, Sensei, sitting on his rattan chair, Manong Vic, enjoying Coca-Cola and bread at the Adolfo Canteen, and Chaya, who sometimes would join the training, as they take a close look at players during those years in preparation for the national championships. The teams used to carry the Danfer Cargo Forwarders, Columbia Computer Center and Acer colors including the Davao City banners at DILG-initiated or PSC-organized competitions.
I singled out the word “indoors” because indoor football, or Futsal, has become a thing these days, thanks to the recent promotion by Philippine Football Federation Futsal head Kevin Goco and technical director Vic Hermans.
Personally, I like the idea that football can be brought indoors because it is more convenient.
You see, all schools have included gyms as part of their sports facilities, although the design has always been for the popular sports, basketball and volleyball. And for schools that have acquired vast tracts of land, some can afford to build a football field at the center to go with the track oval.
But not all schools have the luxury of space.
Smaller schools can not even afford to build their own track oval and football field. It’s just too expensive.
And so, this idea of promoting Futsal as a sport to students makes sense to me.
One, it is convenient. Even if it rains outside, you keep yourself dry inside. If there are spectators, they can sit and watch comfortably at the bleachers.
While I prefer the regular football field, not all schools in the Private Schools Athletic Association-XI or Davao Association of Colleges and Schools and any other school organizations have a complete football facility.
So, Futsal in schools, big or small, make sense.
While the sport is not included in the Southeast Asian Games, not yet, I strongly believe that if all schools, private and public, through its sports directors will include Futsal as part of their sports program, there is a better chance to produce outstanding players in this sport. And when it becomes so popular, the SEAG Organizing Committee will consider it for its next calendar.
We are not a nation of tall players because our genetic make up is that we are cute and fast.
Futsal is one new sport we can be best at.
And with coaches Melchor, Manny and Alvic around and the DRFA officials’ support, I can see that Davao can produce top-caliber players in the likes of Hershey Salmon, Guillermo Iroy Jr., Francisco Villano Jr., Jet and Jun Mendez, Victorino Troyo, David Dwight Penano, just to name a few.
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Daghang salamat!
