Spanish LaLiga opens 1st youth tournament in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The first ever LaLiga Youth Tournament in the Philippines is done.

From Friday, October 18, up to Sunday, October 20, over 80 teams from all over the country (as far as Davao) and one international team (Malaysia) competed in a festival for various age groups at New Clark City (the Athletics Stadium and the adjacent practice pitch).

Over the last 14 years, we have seen many foreign football teams hold clinics and festivals as well — Barcelona, Manchester United, Liverpool, as well as Chelsea being the longest serving one in the Philippines. The success of the latter was because of their anchoring the academy on James and Phil Younghusband, who were then at their peak.

What makes LaLiga potentially a game-changer in grassroots football is one —they aren’t anchored with any club.

According to Ed Pasion, president of Epic Management, which brought LaLiga to the Philippines, the LaLiga Youth Tournament has been ongoing in Malaysia for over three years now with similar events held in football-mad countries like Indonesia and Thailand.

“The LaLiga Youth Tournament started in Malaysia four years ago,” shared Pasion. “We have been flying there as a participant with a Philippine club.”

“Two years ago, I floated the idea to the organizers about the possibility of holding a LaLiga Youth Tournament event in the Philippines. Their reaction was, ‘You have football in the Philippines?’ They look at us as a basketball and boxing nation. I told them to come visit the Philippines and see what we have. They agreed.”

And for LaLiga officials, they are extremely happy with the initial staging of what is hoped to be a Philippine fixture. 

“We have 80 teams and 1,700 players participating,” pointed out Pasion. The way we believe we can grow the game is through the kids. Adding the Philippines to the mix grows the game, the brand, and elevates the competition. Who knows, we can see something like a Champions League among the different LaLiga countries in the very near future?”

Santi Elizalde, LaLiga regional assistant marketing manager, divulged that the long-term goal is to bring standout players to Spain to possibly train or even receive a scholarship to the Spanish football academies.

“Aside from that, we hope to bring someone like (former Spanish and Real Madrid star) Fernando Morientes to visit the country to not only promote the game, but to serve as a symbol of hope for local and regional footballers.”

Pasion also bared that aside from Malaysia, there was supposed to be another country that was going to participate in the inaugural tournament in the country, but opted not to after the recent spate of bad weather.

He also pointed to former Ateneo student Sylar Alcantara, who is now at Barcelona’s famed La Masia Academy, which has produced the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Pep Guardiola and many others.

Alcantara flew back home to participate in this inaugural LaLiga Youth Tournament. He is currently with U-13 side Sant Andreu S13 Preferente.

“We are hoping that Sylar’s presence will inspire our local footballers.”

For his part, Malaysian coach Herman Abdul Latif expressed his surprise and admiration for the first class execution of the tournament.

“Incredible facilities, a warm welcome and fun events — this is on par with the Southeast Asian Games or the Commonwealth Games,” he said. “We are happy to be here. It is an incredible experience for all.”

Malaysia and Indonesia are done with their tournaments,” summed up Elizalde. “By the end of November we will have Thailand. A regional tournament is in the works. We want to make the partners happy and the goal is to see a Filipino in the Spanish league.

“For now, we are kickstarting the brand.”