He is Ricardo Padilla a former Pangasinan State Uneversity player, is now a member of Homeless World Cup Team Philippines. Who represent our country in the 2011 Paris Homeless World Cup in August.
Members of the Homeless World Cup Team Philippines are ready to fly to Paris. Photo by James Patrick Quizon.
The Philippine delegation to the 2011 Homeless World Cup is all set for the annual football event to be held at the Champ de Mars in Paris, France on August 21-28. Team Philippines players and coach declared their readiness and excitement for the tournament, which uses football “as a means to promote social includsion of the homeless and marginalized.”
The team is coached by Rudy del Rosario, a former mainstay of the Philippine national men’s football team. He underscored the role that the program plays in changing the lives of its participants.
“Since 2003, studies have shown that 70 percent of the participants of the Homeless World Cup make changes for the better,” he said. “This is part of our advocacy, to make sure that it doesn’t end it Paris, rather it just starts there. Part of our job is to provide employment and education, maybe even a football career after their stint with the team.”
Del Rosario will be joined in Paris by assistant coach Mark Maravilla and eight players chosen earlier this year in various national tryouts. The players are team captain Janrick Soriano (Negros Occidental), Jeffrey Guelas (Manila), Jeffrey de Castro (Rizal), Bert Anthony Sienes (Manila), Michael Rojo (Negros Occidental), Aljohn Loui Matulac (Iloilo), John Celiz (Iloilo) and Ricardo Padilla (Pangasinan).
Aged between 18 to 26 years old, the players come from different backgrounds–from high school undergraduates to college students– but all of them share the same goal of representing the country well in Paris and using the opportunity as a vehicle for change.
“We will do our best for the Philippines in Paris,” said Soriano.
Padilla, for his part, expressed excitement over wearing the country’s colors. “Talagang malaking karangalan sa amin na maging parte ng Team Philippines,” he said.
De Castro was emotional and teary-eyed when asked what the stint meant to him. “Ito yung daan para ituloy namin ang pangarap namin sa buhay,” he said, prompting the applause of the crowd. “Yun ang pinanghahawakan namin.”
Also in attendance were officials from Gatorade Philippines, a major sponsor of the team, which will be providing equipment like football jerseys, sports jackets, towels and drinks among others for the players.
Team Philippines has represented the country at previous installments of the Homeless World Cup, in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, in Milan, Italy in 2009 and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2010.
Just like in past editions, the competition rules call for a four-a-side squad during the matches, with four players as substitutes using a standard-sized streetball soccer field of 22 x 16 meters and two halves of 7 minutes each plus one-minute interval in between each half.
The first Homeless World Cup was held in 2003 in Graz, Austria, with 18 nations participating. Last year, Team Philippines placed 25th in a field of 64 national teams, the same number of countries expected to compete this year. The effort was good enough for the squad to hoist the Host Cup trophy, gaining respect and recognition from the international field along the way.
