Giving back to football

For Filipino banker and former national football player Mike Moran, the time has come to give back to the sport he loves. Now living in Sydney, Moran recently reached out to Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president Nonong Araneta offering his services on a volunteer basis to bring Filipinos and Australians closer together through the game.

A few weeks ago, PFF secretary-general Edwin Gastanes confirmed the appointment of Moran as a consultant on football-related opportunities in Australia up to Nov. 30, 2015. Moran won’t be paid a centavo for the engagement and that’s how he prefers it. He wants to give back expecting nothing in return.

Moran’s appointment is timely as the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) has long applied for membership in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). Gastanes said during the AFF Congress in Kuantan, Malaysia, last March, the PFF voted for the approval of FFA membership as a regular AFF member. The issue will be settled at the AFF Extraordinary Congress in Dili, Timor Leste, in August.

Moran said as consultant, one of his first initiatives will be to attend the Sydney youth football festival for boys and girls within the age range of 8 to 18 on June 30-July 5 at the Sydney Olympic Park. “This is the largest youth football camp in Sydney,” he said. “My desire is that the Philippines send a team to this camp next year. I’m going to explore how this can be possible.”

The camp will feature two competitions, the Sydney Youth Cup for U-12 to U-18 and the Sydney Junior Cup for U-8 to U-11. Every team plays at least four games in a round-robin format before moving into the knockout stage and the finals. The Junior Cup is for boys, girls or mixed teams. The Youth Cup will separate the boys and girls. Foreign teams are welcome to participate in the five-year-old football festival which is sanctioned by Football New South Wales and co-hosted by the Belmore United Football Club.

Moran, who has worked in foreign exchange trading for 35 years, said he’s looking forward to a career change. He resigned as senior foreign exchange trader with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia last December. Moran was previously employed by Lloyds Bank and the National Australian Bank. His financial career led to postings in Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong. He said he owes it to the sport to promote the development of Filipino football by exploiting the experience and talents of Australian players and coaches. His love for the sport is a passion that comes from the heart.

“Last March, I met with Craig Foster, known as the voice of Australian football,” said Moran. “Craig is probably one of the best mid-fielders Australia has ever produced and played in the early to the mid-90s. I call him the modern-day Johnny Warren (an Australian football legend who played on the Socceroos national team in 1965-74). Craig mentioned that the FFA in cooperation with the Asian Football Confederation is opening a football academy in 2015 in Queensland that will offer courses in coaching and other life skills. Craig wants to market the course to Southeast Asia and that includes us.”

Moran also contacted another former Australian national player Gus Cerro who is married to a Filipina Maitina Costas.  â€œGus is of Argentinian descent and grew up in Sydney,” he said. “Recently, I saw an 11-year-old Aussie-Pinoy with amazing skills. This guy is just as good as any of the Azkals. Gus is the Sports director of the Bankstown Lions, one of the largest football clubs in Sydney. He’s very keen to help Pinoy football gain ground because of his Pinoy connection. He hopes to get some young Pinoys to train in his school.”

Moran’s brother Danny, also a former Philippine national football player, has been at the forefront of the family foundation, named after their father Henry V. Moran, in supporting the grassroots development of the sport in the country.

The rekindling of interest in the sport came when Moran flew in to attend a “Kasibulan” football team reunion in Manila and Boracay last January. The get-together even brought in star striker Tonio Gutierrez who now lives in Reno. The team played a “nostalgia” game at Don Bosco in Alabang and it triggered a spark. “That was when I decided to focus my energies on getting Aussie and Pinoy football closer together,” said Moran. “Currently, I’m also working for our family foundation, pro bono. Part of my work for the foundation is generating support for the Philippine street kids football team playing at the Special Olympics in Newcastle, about an hour’s drive north of Sydney, in November. I’m planning to tap the Pinoy expat community in Sydney for support and I also intend to visit the Philippine Consulate to find out how we can collaborate. I’ll also link up with former football players from Manila now living in Sydney like Emil Ugarte and Francisco Crame.”

Moran has rediscovered a path leading him back to play an active role in the sport that he loves.