LA Galaxy Youth Coach: There’s a lot of potential in the Philippines

By Paulo Loreto Lim

The McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig City hosted Youth Football Day last weekend, which featured players and coaches from Philippines Football League (PFL) club Davao Aguilas FC, along with staff from the youth camps and clinics division of the LA Galaxy, a Los Angeles, California-based Major League Soccer (MLS) club.

The event attracted over 100 participants, between the ages of eight and 16, representing a variety of Metro Manila schools, including the Don Bosco Technical Institute-Makati City, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Paco Catholic School, San Beda College-Alabang, La Salle Green Hills, among others.

Among the Aguilas players present for the event included goalkeeper Markos Trkulja and Kim Versales; midfielders Matthew Hartmann, Jordan Jarvis, Gerald Layumas, Andy Esswein, and Stephen Burda; strikers Princeton Josue and Richard Talaroc, Jr.; and defender Brad McDonald.

The staff from the American football club were comprised of Camps & Clinics and Fan Development Senior Manager Wes Meadows and Manager Chris Howe; along with Job Quevedo.

“We are fortunate to travel all over the world, and domestically, [and] be able to see a lot of players,” said Meadows. “I think, here in the Philippines, there’s a lot of potential.”

The LA Galaxy youth camps and clinics are run by United States Soccer Federation-certified coaching staff and seek to provide a better understanding of football tactics for aspiring footballers.

The California club has won the most MLS championships in league history, with their last coming in 2014. They have also had several prominent players featured on their roster, including David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, and Robbie Keane./PLL, WDJ