It all started in 2018, when the Aspire Football Academy was established as a learning center for young football players.
Since then, the academy, which is based in UP-Diliman as all of its coaches come from the State University, has grown to around 500 students, with 85 already at the elite level.
Students are divided in four age-groups, U-7, U-9 , U-11, and U-13. Recently, the academy sent two teams, a mixed U-11 team under Vince Aguilar, and an all-boys’ U-9, mentored by Steven Aguilar, to the recent 2022 Bangkok Supercup football tournament, where it competed against Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore and even a team from Australia.
The result on the playing field was unexpected as both teams finished in the middle pack, winning 4 of 9 games, good for 14th out of the 28 competing teams in their respective age groups.
“Most of our players played abroad for the very first time and even as we have been training since April, we were not expecting anything. They overachieved as far as we are concerned,” said Aguilar.
But as far as how the kids played, regardless of the result, they played to expectations.
Aspire Football Academy does not focus on the winning side, though.
“What we are after is the holistic development of our students, covering both skills and attitude sides. From the very start, this is what we tell them and what is good is that their parents have embraced their roles in developing their kids outside the playing field,” said Rivera.
Just like their kids, the parents have rules to follow and responsibilities to carry out. And so far, it has been a perfect partnership for both parties. They are not allowed to jeer their opponents for one as the kids are taught to respect their rivals.
Lissa-Lesaca Moti, a multi-titled sports climbing champion and a national team member from 1998 to 2009, confirmed the results as she has a nine-year-old son, who was with the U-9 team in Bangkok.
“My husband and I chaperoned our son and it was a heartfelt experience for me seeing those kids playing all out. No matter what happens or what the score was, they pick themselves up after a fall, and even help out opposing players, who accidentally fell, I was happy our kids playing as a team and applying the values their coaches gave taught them,” said Moti, presently a professor at UP-Diliman with the College of Human Kinetics.
And that is how learning should be.