Following the highly successful Road to Barcelona program last year, MILO Philippines gears up for another edition of the invitational camp that gives aspiring young footballers the chance to train in one of Europe’s football mecca – Barcelona, Spain.
MILO opened Year 2 of the Road to Barcelona, the brand’s values-driven program in partnership with globally renowned football club FC Barcelona, firing off in football hotbed Cebu over the weekend.
A total of seven players from over 160 girls and boys aged 10 to 12 from all around the country joining the Sept. 8 and 9 camp will be selected to complete a 12-man pool to be sent to Camp Nou and join the life-changing champion experience in the home of the Catalan giants.
“Every kid’s dream is to become a champ, that’s why the MILO-FCB Road to Barcelona Philippines Camp is back to provide kids with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to train with coaches from FCB’s Youth Academy,” said Willy de Ocampo, VP-Nestle’ Philippines, Inc. during the media launch at KidZania Manila in BGC.
“We’ve taken this year’s invitational camp to the Visayas and to share the program with even more children in the region, because we believe that these experiences can encourage them to pursue their passion for the sport and nourish their ambitions,” he added.
MILO and FCB believe in the shared HEART values (humility, effort, ambition, respect, and teamwork) equipped with a healthy and active lifestyle that are essential in every child’s overall development.
Participants of the program are chosen via a nomination from their coaches, who will vouch for both their character and talent.
Assisting MILO in the facilitation of the invitational camp are the Cebu Football Association, regional body under the Philippine Football Federation, and two coaches from Barça’s flagship youth development program FCB Youth Academy.
The two-day training camp which features theoretical and practical sessions on how to play the Barça way is free of charge–a privilege for the qualified young players–which the CFA gladly welcomes in its doorstep.
“We warmly welcome this momentous collaboration with two iconic sports brands. We hope that this Road to Barcelona camp can foster the right values in all the participants,” said CFA VP Rico Navarro. “This will be the biggest sporting weekend right now not only in Cebu, not only in the whole of Visayas but also the whole of the Philippines.”
The expert panel composed of PFF representatives and FCB coaches will be in charge in shortlisting the most deserving athletes that will fly to Spain for the nine-day training camp, where one slot in the delegation will be all-expense paid by MILO Philippines. “‹