Manchester United to hold first-ever football camp in the Philippines

At a press conference Monday, Manchester United Football Club’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Mr. Jamie Reigle announced that the English Premier League club will for the first time hold a three-day football camp in the Philippines

Unilever, the company behind Clear ,also announced their partnership with the football club, adding that their number one social mission is to make football just as popular as basketball in the Philippines.

Unilever and Mr Seigle added that they hope that the partnership — which extends throughout Southeast Asia — will help propagate football in the Philippines.

The three-day camp will be from April 25 to 27 this year, which will be comprised of 32 amateur players chosen from Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, and Manila.

Tryout dates will be as follows: March 22 in Cebu, March 23 in Iloilo, March 29 in Davao, and March 30 in Manila. There will be a limit of 100 players per tryout venue. Players must be at least 17-years-old to participate, with registration beginning online on February 1, 2014.

The chosen 32 amateurs will then be coached by Manchester United Soccer School coaches.

United Football League (UFL) President Randy Roxas was on hand to also talk about the involvement of the UFL in the proceedings. Citing the UFL’s thrust of youth development, Roxas said that the regional tryouts would also help in searching for talent. He also said that the UFL will help facilitate the tryouts for the camp, much like it did in helping out in last year’s Clear Aspirants Camp.

There were no promises made about bringing any of the current or even past Manchester United players or coaches to the Philippines, though Drew Copuyoc, Clear’s Philippines Brand Manager, said that announcements about the actual Clear Dream Match will be made at a later date.

Copuyoc added that it will be bigger than last year’s event, where they brought World Cup-winning Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro and former Chelsea FC captain Dennis Wise to the Philippines, to play alongside UFL selections headed by Phil and James Younghusband.

In line with the camp, however, Copuyoc said that the best amateur players discovered will be invited to play in the Clear Dream Match.

Manchester United’s Reigle further clarified that they have no plans to set up a physical school in the Philippines in the immediate future. This is akin to the set up of the Barcelona FC’s Escola, who has a partnership with UFL side Team Socceroo.

So far, only English Premier League side Chelsea Football Club, in cooperation with the Younghusband Football Academy, has set up the beginnings of permanent infrastructure in the Philippines. - AMD, GMA News