Sweden's NYFA to visit Davao City

Davao City in the Philippines will be host to international delegates of the National Youth Football Association of Sweden (NYFA) from 6 to 12 July, in partnership with the Football for Humanity Foundation led by founder and president Chris Thomas, and in coordination with Davao South Regional FA and Maharlika Sports Development Institute led by Edgar Lim Te executive director, and the Mindanao Peace Council led by Secretary General Vincent Molejon.

The purpose of the visit is to deliver a 3-day classroom and field training certification course to be conducted at the Ateneo de Davao University and at the Agro Football Field in Davao City. Also to be conducted is Skills Skola, a community-based skills programme that was originally inspired by Brazilian street football. The programme allows children to be creative and innovative and is designed to increase player confidence. The final assembly is a two-hour leadership seminar to be delivered by English FA tutor, Owen Southgate, who is a British national and the founder of NYFA.

“The ultimate purpose of the National Youth Football Association of Sweden (NYFA) is to create better people. Through a holistic approach and evidence-based methodology, NYFA creates an environment to facilitate a higher quality of youth sports. We develop better youth coaches; we also expand the role of sport in the social context of child development. The association is aimed at people of all ages, regardless of background,” Southgate informed. Southgate is a tutor and accreditor for the English FA, and a UEFA B license holder. Passionate about leadership, Southgate recently said in Sweden, “A world-class leader would rather die poor in the service of others than die rich but be isolated from his soul."

NYFA is partnered with the Philippine-based Football for Humanity Foundation (FFH), which is an international charity focused on using football and the power of play to transform underprivileged, marginalised and displaced communities, and supported by the Davao South Regional FA, Maharlika Sports Development and the Mindanao Peace Council. “This is an amazing opportunity for Davao football, which has always pursued international excellence for its sports development. We hope this will be the start of many other opportunities that will quantum leap Davao to the front of Philippine football development," concluded Edgar Te, Davao FA Special Projects Director and Executive Director of Maharlika Sports Development Institute.