Many sports have been focused on winning more than anything else, but do not tell that to the people and coaches behind the Aspire Football Academy.
For them, it goes way beyond winning. And won games are simply mathematical results
This is according to three young coaches from the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the academy following their trip to Thailand for the Bangkok Super Cup.
They brought two teams to the Bangkok tournament, a mixed U-9, and an all-boys U 11 team, with most participants on their first international stint.
Among the teams they played came mostly from Asian football countries, like host Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore, and Australia.
Both teams came home with similar 4-9 win-loss records, enough to land them at 14th spots out of the 28 teams in their groups.
“We were really not expecting anything at all from these kids, it was just a good opportunity for them to play and put into use what we have been teaching them, both from the skills and attitudinal aspects of the game,” said Steven Rivera, coach of the U-9 side.