Three's the charm in Futsal
MANILA, Philippines — What if you could develop a winning national team composed of kids from local communities?
This was the goal of the Henry V. Moran Foundation since it got involved in the development of the sport of futsal. The foundation is a pioneer in sports development in the Philippines, having supported the creation of the football programs of Gawad Kalinga and Tuloy sa Don Bosco.
The foundation was also behind the organization of the first teams that were sent to the Street Child World Cup, the Homeless World Cup, and the Special Olympics. It has also helped in development of futsal through its Liga Eskwela Futsal program, in partnership with the Philippine Football Federation (PFF).
Together with the Department of Education, LGUs, and private sponsors, the Liga Eskwela program has helped thousands of kids. The program works to help kids develop skills, become passionate and motivated in life — all while having fun playing futsal.
Three champions bear the torch of this program's success: Danny Moran, the chairman of the Henry V. Moran Foundation; Kevin Goco, the foundation’s program director and Futsal department head of the PFF; and Vic Hermans, world-class FIFA futsal coach.
As an entrepreneur, Danny Moran is better known as the driving force behind restaurants Red Ribbon and now Amici and Cara Mia. He is quick to attribute his successes in life to the discipline he developed as a national football team player back in the ’70s. Forever passionate about the sport, Moran has always looked upon futsal with reverence. For him, football wasn't just a sport played for fun; it was a teacher of values, lessons, and character.
“Football teaches you how to win as a team," he says. "But more importantly, it also teaches you how to accept and deal with defeat."
Football served as a field where Moran was able to develop as a person. He credits his days of playing football to his success as an entrepreneur.?
“In entrepreneurship, and in life, you will always have setbacks," he shares. "Football, more so during the times we lost, taught me valuable lessons of grit, accepting setbacks, and taking two steps backward before going forward.”
When he started with the Liga Eskwela program there were only 11 public schools. Today, three years later, there are 300. Moran adds, “Futsal can be played anywhere in the Philippines because all you need is an open space like a basketball court to play 5-on-5. This is why ever since we started promoting the sport at the public school level, the take-up was incredible.”
Kevin Goco, ?futsal department head of the Philippine Football Federation, a recent graduate of the FIFA Masters Program with a degree in Management, Law, and Humanities of Sport, is another driving force behind the Philippine futsal movement. He was an academic scholar to the FIFA Masters program, Europe’s top-ranked sports management program, which he completed in 2020 as Class Valedictorian.
“I see futsal development as a tool for nation-building, and from the day I started promoting sports in local communities I knew this was my life purpose, ” says Goco. “The Moran Foundation is doing special work, and it is our goal to develop the sport of futsal, but to also use the sport to create impact on communities.”?
Goco worked his way up to being the futsal director of the PFF to one of the pillars of futsal development in the Philippines, especially in helping to build and spread The Henry V. Moran Foundation's Liga Eskwela program throughout the Philippines.
The Golden Ball (Most Valuable Player) of the first-ever FIFA Futsal World Championship in 1989, Victor Hermans was also the National Futsal Coach of Hong Kong (1992), Malaysia (1996), Iran (2001), Holland (2001), Malta (2009), Thailand (2012), and Indonesia (2017).
Hermans coached Iran to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Futsal Championship, as well as Thailand to a Silver Medal in the AFC Futsal Championship.
In 2012, Hermans brought the Thai national team to the Round of 16 at the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
“I have worked in developing the sport of futsal in over 70 countries around the world and have coached the sports’ top sides, but what the Moran Foundation is doing is special,” he says.
Hermans has been hard at work giving training seminars and coaching sessions to our futsal coaches, in the hopes that one day in the near future we'll be able to develop not just a winning national team, but also a futsal culture that's deep-seated and thriving all throughout the country.
“The Moran Foundation is really working in developing this sport from the ground up, while at the same time also helping a lot of people grow into good citizens,” Hermans said.
