100 join High Five Hope football clinic

THE heat of the sun was too much to bear for the kids but at the end of the day it didn't matter after they were introduced to the sport of football through the High Five Hope Football Clinic.

A total of 100 boys and girls were present yesterday at the University of San Carlos Talamban Football Field.

Sixty percent of the kids came from community-based centers Salvatorian Pastoral Care for Children, Children's Health and Assistance Foundation Inc., Children of Asia, Little Bamboo Foundation and Mobile School.

The remaining kids came from the centers in Parian, SOS and Terre Sans Frontier.

The kids were taught the basics of football and went through some fun drills with the volunteer coaches from the USC Ladies Football Varsity under head coach Garry Panagsagan.

Members of the Hove Curry Club from Singapore also became assistant coaches to the kids.

The group of mostly British football enthusiasts fathers based in Singapore also played an exhibition match against the USC lady booters and won, 5-2, which is the group's first recorded win since their previous visits in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Since 2010, they have been to these places to make their anniversary extra special.

"We wanted to celebrate by going out and to do something special amd aside from supporting an orphanage, we make it extra special by challenging them to a soccer match," said Jolyon Hillier, head of the Hove Curry Club.

The coaches had already grouped the kids to ten teams and they willbe playing in a football festival today.