WITH the goal of increasing the national recognition of football, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) lends its assistance through the recent launch of the Football for Schools (F4S) program.
On November 24, FIFA, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) gathered at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite, to officially open the FIFA F4S program in the country.
Football has been steadily gaining popularity in the Philippines. The sport’s rise in the local scene has been obvious in recent years, most notably at the international level.
Football transcends global competitiveness, victories, defeats and draws. According to FIFA secretary general Madame Fatma Samoura, the PFF is excited to push the boundaries of the sport even further.
“Today, we are celebrating the 103rd member association out of 200 to join this big family of F4S, so welcome to this big family,” she said during the launch, demonstrating her dedication to the initiative.
“The core idea of this program is to promote the development and empowerment of millions of children around the world. Precisely 700 million children are targeted through this program and we want to use football to inspire them, bring them joy, and promote team spirit.”
“This program can play a very pivotal role in helping educate children, and through the F4S, FIFA has the ability to contribute to harnessing the game’s power in order to do this on a global scale,” she said.
PSC and DepEd are collaborating on this project, which focuses on developing educators and community coaches who can share their skills with their communities and help football thrive at the grassroots level.
FIFA sponsored a two-day capacity-building workshop before the official launch, engaging 33 grassroots development officers and seven government development offices. The goal of the session was to introduce participants to the F4S philosophy, which integrates life skills through football.
