KOKOY'S SOCCER BLOG: THE APRIL FOOLS JOKE: SORTING OUT THE TRUTHS FROM THE FANTASIES

Okay, okay, he got me on that one. I was had. It was a good one. It's one of those when everyone let's out a big, "wo-ho-hooooo!" I gotta hand it to him. I'm man enough to admit it. I fell for the joke.

But do you blame me for believing it? I am one of the scores with big dreams for Philippine football. We see what can be done in the future, and we know what it takes to get to where we need to go. We invest a lot of intellectual energy contemplating each step of the development journey that will get the nation into the World Cup promised land. It is indeed a long arduous process, but well within the realm of possibility, which is why we are such dreamers vulnerable to those who might even remotely suggest that any of these steps are already under way.

I am of course referring to the April Fools joke playing upon our ambitions by joker ivangeoffrey of The Perfect Pass blog fame and his entry entitled "PFF launches national league: The F.League" on April 1, 2016. I know, I know, I should have gotten a clue from the blog entry date, but there wasn't anything particularly outrageous about the article, aside from the fact that I completely fell for it; it read more like a wish list than a joke.

So I need a stab at redemption by clarifying that while Mr. Geoffrey's article was a joke for which I fell flat on my face, my reaction to its contents was actually no joke at all - I told it exactly the way I've been feeling for years.

We are going to sort through some untruths in Mr. Geoffrey's eloquent jest and the truths in this crackpot blogger's subsequent response to it. (See my previous blog entry THE F.LEAGUE - THE NEW HOME OF PHILIPPINE FOOTBALL.)

April Fools #1 from ivangeoffrey: The Philippine Football Federation launches the F.League.

Truth #1 from Kokoy: I do honestly believe that if such a launch were to happen, it would be by far the most promising development in Philippine football in recent memory, a shot in the arm long needed by the nation's footballing renaissance. And I do sincerely believe that while the positive aspects of such a league as described by Mr. Geoffrey would hold great promise, I would also hope that the PFF leadership proceeds cautiously to protect the program from the pitfalls which had brought Philippine football to its demise in the late 20th century.

April Fools #2 from ivangeoffrey: The Philippine Football Federation requires each club revise its name to identify it with the local community with which it is associated. Hence, clubs formerly known as Ceres-La Salle, Stallion, Global, and Loyola Meralco Sparks are now Ceres-Negros, Stallion-Iloilo, Global-Tacloban, and QC Meralco.

Truth #2 from Kokoy: I've always felt that development of fan support in the top tiers of Philippine football has been hindered by the clubs' failure to solidly identify themselves with local communities. It is unrealistic to expect masses of fans to flock towards teams identified solely by their connections to capitalist corporations, as the game itself thrives best when local communities and egalitarian principles are deeply integrated in the process. I do wish that Ceres-La Salle would call itself something like Bacolod FC or Negros United, expressing their representation of the community in which the club is based, a community in need of representation off the shores of Negros island, rather than of the corporation emblazoned on their jerseys.

Football clubs the world over customarily do not name themselves after the sponsors whose logos adorn their kits. This is why Manchester United is known as Manchester United and not Chevrolet United, Bayern Munich is not Bayern T-Mobile, and AC Milan is not AC Emirates. Keep Ceres on the jersey, but free yourself from your dependence on corporate entities and call it Negros FC so that your fanbase all over the province can proudly connect with you. A club name such as QCFC to me has a very attractive ring to it, divesting Loyola Meralco's identity from the capital's power company often at odds with its own customers. Independent of any corporate affiliation, clubs can accept bids for kit sponsorship and make the most capital from it for their organization. In Mexico's top Liga MX, club jerseys have multiple sponsor logos. Don't be fooled - the corporations don't necessarily own the clubs - they own only that space their logos occupy on the jersey, and only for a seasonal contract. Beyond that, it is possible for independent UFL clubs to search for sponsorship contracts with reputable companies, further enhancing their image among fans.

Top-tier Philippine clubs need to do what it takes to expand their relationships with local communities. In the United States, Major League Soccer clubs such as my fave the Houston Dynamo are highly visible in the city, very active in their support of local non-profit organizations, with star players regularly visiting public schools and doing charity work with underrepresented sectors of the community, going so far as to have among their jersey sponsors an environmentally-conscious recycling company. At each home match, the Dynamo organization features a different local charity in the BBVA Stadium announcements, granting them a free concession where fans can get information about them. The Dynamo Youth Academy searches for the best players in the city, offering scholarships to those from economically disadvantaged communities. In Manila on the other hand, UFL clubs are barely visible in the local community. When I visit schools, walk around poor neighborhoods, read the newspapers, watch the local news, or attend matches at the stadium, there is little evidence of community activity by any football club, even within just a block from Rizal Memorial. There are exceptions of course, such as Kaya FC's work (check out this piece from YOUR BOHO BIBLE). The PFF and the UFL need to publicize community service by clubs such as Kaya's. Football is the sport of the masses. When the fruits of the game are hijacked and horded by the privileged class, Philippine football will be doomed to return to its dark ages when the country languished in the world's bottom 10 percentile, back when the game was accessible only to those behind the barbed-wire fences of Manila's elite schools, a period that saw the nation fall from continental pioneers to perpetual cellar-dwellers in the 1980s and 90s.

April Fools #3 from ivangeoffrey: Chieffy Caligdong captains the Green Archers under their new name Taft Avenue FC.

Truth #3 from Kokoy: Currently a playing assistant and head youth coach for the Green Archers, Chieffy's continued participation in the development of the Philippine game is critical to its future. A pure-blooded Philippine Air Force officer produced NOT in multi-million-dollar facilities in some swank European city, but by the playgrounds of the Philippines' footballing hotbed of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo, Chieffy was captain of the National Team earlier this decade that inspired the Filipino people to rediscover its football passion, propelling the game back into the country's collective sports consciousness after half a century of complacency, and making the Azkals a common household term. Chieffy's venerated status gives domestic Philippine football a depth of credibility, withstanding whatever condescending arrogance may be brought by imports from abroad. The most revered domestically-produced player since Paulino Alcantara, I am advocating for Chieffy to one day be proclaimed a National Hero.

April Fools #4 from ivangeoffrey: F.League entry by two of the biggest clubs in Europe, Manchester City as 40% owners of Cebu City FC and Barcelona partnering with FC Biñan.

Truth #4 from Kokoy: While it may sound too good to be true, it has actually become very common practice for big-time Euro clubs to establish farming programs in developing countries. One of the most famous of these partnerships is Ajax Amsterdam's South African affiliate in Cape Town. The Ajax youth development system is revered worldwide as pioneers in the field, the most visionary and most prolific of its kind. (What would you expect from the system that developed Johan Cruyff from the club janitor's 10-year-old son to one of the most influential football players in history?) Bringing its resources and philosophy into the townships, Ajax has helped transform the South African football landscape. Over the past decade, Euro involvement in the youth development program here in the United States has grown exponentially as clubs discover the unlimited potential of talent around the world. Clubs like Manchester City and FC Barcelona have been developing youths into the world's best for almost two centuries, plucking countless kids off the streets and planting them on an 80' x 120' patch of Bermuda grass. Why would they NOT want to come to the Philippines and do the same? I certainly don't consider it outside the realm of possibility. City's establishment of a Major League Soccer franchise has already made a huge impact on the quality of competition just six weeks into NYCFC's maiden season, bringing the likes of Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, and David Villa into North American stadia and giving this crackpot blogger a preview of what could happen in Rizal Memorial and Panaad. While establishing a necessary presence in Manila, Euro clubs could make the biggest impact in expansion locations outside the National Capital Region, in provincial bases where development opportunities have the greatest potential. Just look at all of the multinational companies who have chosen the Philippines as a hub over the last few decades, investing in Filipino labor and resourcefulness. Actively cultivating and encouraging international relationships, attracting investment from football clubs around the world are well within the organizational capabilities of the PFF. This is not an impossibility for Philippine football. It's just a matter of will.

The caution remains however - we must stay true to the belief that the ultimate benefit of Euro participation in the Philippine development program is NOT the potential influx of foreigners, although one would hope that players they farm out to their respective Philippine affiliates would be of higher quality than an overwhelming majority of imports currently populating UFL clubs (see my blog from January 19, 2016 Time to Weigh in on the UFL). It's not their players that I would be after - it's their coaching. The true treasure would be the integration of Euro clubs' youth academies into the country's national development system. Man City and Barca's youth development programs are among the best in the world, consistently producing player after world-class player from the working-class neighborhoods of their inner cities and beyond. If successful Euro clubs can help the nation improve our youth system, creating opportunities for millions of kids with quality professional coaching, especially in high-poverty barangays, then they would be a welcome presence. But if they seek only players whose families would be able to financially afford the club tuition, then these clubs would only be buttressing the archaic social model perpetuated by its privileged class that preserves the feudal state Philippine society is in.

It is my hope that the PFF leadership recognizes the power of football to create social change and enacts policies towards that purpose. Therein lies the real beauty of the beautiful game, and that is not a joke.

No, Green Archers will not be changing their name to Taft Avenue FC, associating itself with the very neighborhood this blogger calls home...

...admitting he fell for the April Fools joke.

But the Philippine Football Federation nonetheless has inherited a great opportunity for many proposals outlined in the April Fools article...

...well within the realm of possibility for the future of Philippine football.

From clubs closely associated with local communities rather than corporations...

...to entry of Europe's most prolific youth development systems...

...and expansion into provincial municipalities...

...these steps are well within the organizational capabilities of the PFF.

It's just a matter of will.

(All photos by Kokoy)

Kokoy Severino has coached junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for 21 years. He holds several coaching licenses from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, including a National Youth Diploma, as well as two certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master in Educational Leadership degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk students. He returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and conducts soccer training sessions for economically disadvantaged youths. He is now Associate Principal at Hyde Park Schools in Austin, Texas, where he has established the first soccer program in school history at the middle and elementary levels. Kokoy attended a total of 52 matches in 2015, excluding the ones in which he was coaching. He has been documenting through photography every match he has observed since 2012 in the United States, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore. Check out the archives of Kokoy's Women's College Soccer Blog.
- And please consider helping me help my friend Rose as she fights to break the cycle of poverty that her family has been trapped in for generations. She is the first in her family to finish at least one semester of college. I hope you find this cause worthy of your assistance. Your prayers for our success will help too... THE ROSE BATISTER COLLEGE TUITION FUND

Kokoy's most recent UFL Photo Albums:

Saturday March 21, 2015 -

Manila Jeepney FC 2, Philippine Army FC 2

@ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila, Philippines 2:15 pm