CES' Theater of Dreams

AT THE crack of dawn in one small patch of grass that barely qualifies for a football pitch—or a playground even—a group of youngsters start their thrice-weekly grind of football drills.




While most of their schoolmates are just waking up, they are off greeting the dawn as they warm up for the day’s exercise. And as the rest of the students troop to school, members of the football team—from six-year-olds to 12-year-olds—toil under coaches Jun Santillan, Elmer Yonting, Eric Colina, Nick Sanchez and Mario Ceniza, who serves as a consultant, for the day’s final workout.



They are the Canduman Elementary School (CES) football players, a rag tag group whose dreams are lofty. And under the M. Lhuillier Sports Development Foundation (MLSDF) program, they are slowly achieving their goal.

When coach Santillan’s son was enrolled at CES, the footballer-dad started training his son along with a few others. And when they were adopted by the MLSDF football program under Ceniza and Graeme Mackinnon, CES was armed by what the two coaches’ learned when they started a similar program in Carmen in the late 90s.



With the backing of Michel Lhuillier, who also owns the Cebu Niños in the Liga Pilipinas, the Canduman boys are treading the same path the Carmen boys took.

“Just as he (Lhuillier) is committed to showcasing the basketball talents of the Cebuanos at the highest level, so too is he committed to the grassroots development of football,” said Mackinnon.

The partnership between MLSDF and Ceniza and Mackinnon was highlighted by the Carmen boys—which had five players suiting up for the RP 17-Under team and two in the senior team.



But Mackinnon sees Canduman, adopted by MLSDF in 2004, surpassing that.

“This is better than Carmen because then, we only had one team. These guys have the Players 6, 8, 10 and 12,” said Mackinnon, who attended their practice yesterday.

Though the CES kids practice in a relatively large area, they only get to use one-fourth of it—one that was even converted into a basketball court.




Half of the area is a foot lower than the rest and is submerged, while the other fourth is covered with tall grass.

Cow dung are all over the place and the first order of the day for the boys is covering them with soil.

Mackinnon, who flew from Australia and brought with him 21 balls and other equipment, said practicing in such a small space has both its advantages and disadvantages.

“They develop their skills, passing and movement in such a small area, but they also can’t get ‘match practice,’” he said.

According to Mackinnon, the parents of the kids are so involved in their training that they even formed the CES Football Association (Cesfa).

Cora Barcelona, the vice president of the Cesfa, said that at one time, the parents had to arrange for the kids to play in a real football field in Danao.

“They are not used to playing in a big field and when they join tournaments instead of shooting at the goal, they’d just pass the ball because that’s what they do in practice,” Barcelona said in Cebuano.

Since the school can’t support them financially, one of the concession CES gave the players is to exempt them from attending the flag ceremony when they practice.

When they join tournaments, MLSDF takes care of the registration fee and transportation going to and from the venue.

“We prepare the snacks and the water, using our own funds,” said Cesfa president, Edith Domingo.

Aside from the refreshments, the parents provide the much needed cheers.

“Sometimes, we are the noisiest group in the field,” said Domingo.

Barcelona added that they act as guardians for the kids since the school can’t send any when they have tournaments.

Despite the odds stacked against them, the Canduman boys are poised to surpass what the Carmen Boys—who for years became the yard stick of youth football achievement—had done.

“We were also still learning when we trained Carmen,” said Mackinnon, who added that what Ceniza, one of the top youth coaches in Cebu, brings to Canduman is invaluable.

Growing trophy case

“The coaching consultancy of Ceniza, apart from developing programs for grassroots for players, is also a development program for future coaches. What is lacking, sadly, are quality coaches but MLSDF Canduman has the best of both worlds, gaining knowledge for the experience of Ceniza,” said Mackinnon.

The results, so far, has been encouraging.

The trophy case at the CES Principal’s office is growing, and Canduman also won the first silver medal for Mandaue City in the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association meet last year, losing to eventual Palarong Pambansa champion Don Bosco College.

But aside from the medals, it is the off-court achievement that matters most.

The first batch of players, who are now in first year high school, have a partial scholarship at the Mandaue Technical Institute—a deal arranged by Coach Santillan.

“Nangita gyud ko’g eskwelahan nga mo-adopt nila,” said Santillan.

Santillan, and the rest of the Cesfa parents, also hope that when the boys get to college, they can still stay together and play under scholarship.

“Aside from football, they are also being taught good values,” said Mackinnon.

The parents, too, see the benefit.

“Mas ma-ayo ni kaysa magtambay ra sila or mag drugs,” said Cording Jayme, CESFA’s treasurer.

Mackinnon also said through the sport, they can get an education and eventually, a job, even within M. Lhuillier.

The Australian coach also trained a group of youngsters—including Ceniza—that won the national title back in the ‘80s and a couple of those players now hold managerial positions in the M. Lhuillier group of companies.

“Basketball brings widespread entertainment to many, while the MLSDF football program brings enjoyment to the kids as well as potential future security for the kids,” said Mackinnon.

Now that the boys are doing well in the tournament, both Mackinnon and Ceniza are trying to get what the kids really need.

A real football pitch for practice, one without the cow dung.

“There’s an available field in Consolacion and we are trying to get in touch with the owner so the kids can use it,” said Mackinnon.

This blog post is submitted as part of Sony Ericsson’s Extra Time campaign. You can read the other local football stories here.