Dear All,

I would like to apologize for not being able to write in over a month, apparently, the application of futsal development hands-on took the most of my time. Now all is well and I can send out a proper and comprehensive newsletter. I would like to emphasize that the contents of this newsletter are very important. I will be bullet-pointing as usual so we can get straight to the details. Happy reading, and lastly, thank you for those that have given me feedback!!! : )

- NCRFA Program Plans *
- Adidas *
- Luzon Futsal Festival *
- Futsal Club Developmental Series *
- Info from abroad *
- Thoughts, notes and insights
- Youth *
- Training *
- Invitations for fun


* Very important!!!

NCRFA Program Plans
The year is more than halfway, there are still alot of things to be done. On my club developmental series, we have had two leagues so far. The following venues have been developed:
1. San Andres Malate
2. Magallanes Gym.
I am not counting school facilities because I believe we should try developing futsl where it is hardest, and that is the Public. My next developmental league series are targetting the following venues for the rest of the year:
1. Navy Jurado Hall(2 courts)
2. Villamor Gym
3. Dapitan
4. Blue Ridge

I would like to invite Football clubs to look into the possibility of developing more courts(QC is untapped yet), especially locations more convenient for all of you. As coordinator for the Futsal Developmental Board, I will offer all of my research and help in making it possible. Venue development involves a number of aspects:

A venue should be accessible
Two clubs have to work together in adopting 1 venue
Social Programs must be proposed to the local government to lessen the costs
ex. Teaching children
A tournament must be held there to introduce the general public to the sport
Tournament Programs are offered to pay for the costs of developing the venue(Goals)
Venues must be open to all in order to introduce new people to the game
Seminars and entertainment events must be done also to bring in revenue

The main target of my player and venue development program is to be able to bring Futsal to the Public, to have homes for the different football clubs, to have venues for any tournament, and lastly but most importantly, to keep people kickin around! It is important, especially for the seniors(16yrs and above) to seriously take a look into this because we are running out of time and space to express what we enjoy, and this is playing. I am asking those clubs that are interested in developing venues or have ideas to feel free to share them so we can all grow fast together! The culmination of the Developmental Series will be the "Super-Liga". This is a 2 division competion that will aim to have 2 to 3 championships every year consisting of initially 16 clubs total using at least 6-8 public venues. Please pray and support the futsal movement, we are doing our best in laying the groundwork to be copied nationwide so that the family will grow bigger, and also stronger!!!

Equipment
Adidas has brought in another new pair of futsal shoes! they are very inexpensive and very durable. A good source for buying Futsal Shoes I have found are the major department stores like landmark and SM. Please have a look! also, adidas have brought in futsal balls sold mainly at the Adidas Botiques like Rockwell, megamall etc. Please have a look, they are extremely high quality issues and cost P1,595 per ball! Lastly on Adidas, because of the Fashion boom, alot of people are bringing in the originals collection in major fashion botiques like "Human" of the Bench Group. like I've been saying, one of the most stylish shoes of all time are the Adidas Samba, and they have it! mostly in color blue, they cost around P3,400, please take a look. If you are going to buy it for badminton or for porma, think twice! A Futsal Player may get pissed if they run out of stock!!! : )

On other brands, please note that Nike has perennially put on sale their old model Futsal shoes at obscenely low prices. They are very good and are primarilly for competition. They are always 30% off so please consider looking at them! Currently, Nike has around 2 to 3 models out in the open market!

Masa equipment is on the way!!! Based on my feelings and studies, the tolerance for a Filipino(Class A-C) to learn and play Futsal is that he'd expect to spend P500 on shoes and P600 for a ball at most. This is based on a study on barriers to entering a sport. Because of this, my research has lead me to take a look at different Futsal shoes in the world and also sources for balls. On the side of Balls, I am developing a working partenership with POFI, and Indonesian Futsal Association. They are sending me samples soon for mass market quality balls at affordable prices! Keep an eye on this space, I wil let everyone know once the final deal has been struck. 1 hint though, the price tolerance for balls I mentioned earlier? We'll hit it!!! On the side of the shoes, Most shoes in Brazil are only canvas and aren't fancy. Its the sole that matters the most. And, whaddya know! Dragonfly indoor shoes available in the department stores, badminton halls(Hehehe) and Divisoria and readilly available at less than P1,000 pesos, making futsal really affordable!!! Try these out, you'll like em, and have enough money spare to buy a whole fake replica set from Tutuban Center too for that next league you'd like to join!

Luzon Futsal Festival
This is the most important part of the letter that requires your feedback. Adidas, as I have mentioned before have been planning the "Thunder Futsal Festival". It will be a two day event held in a major school in San Juan. The rules will be festival style with teams playing eliminations the whole day. From what I have heard, these are regional finals. They are going to host a men's open, an under 16 for men, and a ladies open. Please inquire through these numbers regarding details because nothing is absolutely final yet and your inputs and inquries would be most helpful. The Philippine Football Federation is handling this nationally and they want to know if people are interested in the tournament so they can come up with a proper format that can try to cater to everybody for the most fun possible! They are planning it for the end of the month(August, 2003) so a call this week would be most appreciated for an invitation request and details.
Please contact
Joaquin Preysler
Chairperson of Philippine Futsal
PFF 687-1594 or 98

Futsal Club Developmental Series
The Adidas Thunder is a weekend festival, I have another developmental league coming up for Senior Footbal Clubs(Basta malaki na!), thanks to the great effort and dedication of Sunday Football Club, Pasargad, and Los Borrachos. The current GNC league organized by Christopher Hagedorn of the UFL and Mr. Borromeo of GNC, has a 1st division winner, which is KAYA, and it is still ongoing. It will finish its second division soon. After this tournament, the second developmental tournament will commence. I am asking all teams interested in joining this effort to write on how they can participate in this program. The project consists of developing at least three venues that clubs can permanently call homes, this wil be funded by sponsorship and tournament registration. This second tournament is slated to be next month so please write me in this email address if you are interested, or call my cel#, 09178968648!

After this developmental series, I will pursue the third which consists of developing three military courts with a league open to all. Most probably this will be started in 3 months time. After this, we will have enough people playing futsal and we can launch the "Super-Liga".

Info from abroad
I am corresponding with the following countries regarding the development of Futsal:
Germany
Italy
Indonesia
Malaysia
U.S.
Great Britain

It has resulted in the following:
The Philippine futsal story has been shared to the word
We are sharing knowledge base and resources
Indonesia has offered their help with exporting equipment
We will be invited to international club competitions(1 is going to happen next year in ASEAN and we will be invited!)
I have corresponded with an American Club to take a look and if possible, adopt our serious players based in San Francisco

Please surf the internet and feel free to write those pople that run futsal sites like Futsalplanet.com and Futsalonline.com. they are extremely helpful and most of my research was done through their help and generosity! I have sent out copies of the Philippine Futsal Story to other countries, and also pictures of our national team, they were glad to recieve them and an example is that Futsal Germany has even translated it and posted it as a main feature on their site!

Youth
I have spoken to the major football playing schools in the region through a general meeting of theirs where I asked to be able to present Futsal. I was able to pass around copies of FIFA's U-19 International Program in PC CD-ROM form(You can email me to request for a copy), which helps schools develop P.E. Programs. As I mentioned earlier, the youth form a vital component of the trinity which also includes the barangay and the clubs. It is in my sincerest hopes that they like the program and find it feasible enough to launch into the P.E. programs of schools so that we can introduce it to everyone, especially all the schools that do not have space or funds for Football Fields, but who have children that wanna keep on kickin!!! Mr. Tomas Lozano said once, there are three thousand schools out there in the NCRFA, something has to be done about them!. My answer, they do not have football fields, lets work together and give them Futsal!!!

Thoughts, notes and insights
Futsal Development has been a very hard job these past few months, especially because most of this has been done from nothing! If it is anything that was proven in the past few months about Futsal, it is that futsal has the capability to survive the test of time, and can be implemented with the minimal resources required! That point, I am very proud of what the people who have joined the group have achieved, but I believe that there is much to be done. We have to make futsal open to everyone, we have to make Futsal Good for everyone! I say that because if Futsal cannot generate friends, fitness value, competitive environments, social awareness, networking, employment, and most importantly fun, then the job has not been finished yet. saying this, I will state the two thoughts in my head. The first:

"The Philippines can win the World Cup, it is only a question on when as a people, it wants to! Only then will it happen."
Simply put, it is up to us. Winning the World Cup is not about the solid gold trophy(Its nice!), its about displaying your country's values and culture to the whole world, and being proud that it can take you places, whether it be the 5 in futsal or the 11 in football, lifting the trophy high and making a whole nation happy. Now, isn't that something to aspire for?

The Second:

"The Football Family is a small one, but a strong one at that!"
I say this because in Football, we all claim to know alot about it and know each other. If that is so, why aren't we moving fast upwards? We should take time in finding more about our peers, take it from me, they can be a great help off the pitch, as much as on it! If we are indeed a family, then let us move as one, together! Football is a culture, a way of thinking, a way of life. We are competitive and strive as a team to achieve goals! Simply said...

Training and invitations for fun
All those that are interested in improving their Futsal Skills, one tip only, play and be observant! If you are losing, find out why. If you are winning, measure up against a stonger team. All I'm saying is the easiest training aid is our eyes, supported by our heart. Watching what someone does well and copying it with a little personal improvements will always make anyone a better player. Saying these things, I would like to invite everyone to come to Magallanes Covered Court in Magallanes Vilage Makati. Its an open venue for people that want to play for fun! Sunday football club and Agila FC always hosts monday nights, 7:30-10:30pm every week. If you want to know more details, feel free to email me so you can join in the fun! Soon, we will have more venues spread across the metropolis open to everyone that wanna just kick around and make friends, or pick up something new to improve!

I have 4 things in the pipeline to be offered. If you are interested, please email me.
1. Highlights VCD of UEFA Futsal championship
2. FIFA Program for youth development
3. Futsal Develpment Manual(coming soon)
4. Technical and Referee Training Seminars(make a group and we will go to you!).

Anyway, this has been a pretty comprehensive newsletter. I am glad that Futsal is moving all well. Everyone's support has been most appreciated, and we will cotinue to do so!

Miguel G. David
The Futsal Group