In the first time the Philippines has been invited to and competed in the World Fairplay Soccer Championship, the women’s team won bronze after defeating Mongolia on penalties. See the video of the game by clicking here.

The group stage saw the Payatas-based girls end with 10 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses to earn the 2nd seed, behind Mongolia. A win over the USA in the Quarter Finals before an upset loss against eventual champions Latvia set up the Battle for Third clash with Group Stage leaders Mongolia, who were also upset by Italy in their Semi Final.

While the men’s team lost in the Quarter Finals, 5 of the 8 boys and girls on Team Philippines are expected to earn Varsity Football Scholarships this incoming School Year, with another expected to gain a Varsity Scholarship when she graduates High School. One of the other boys is entering Fourth Year College already, while the final player is using this tournament as his way back into education having enrolled in the Alternative Learning System.

For Fairplay, we are proud of the personal growth of our players and Scholars. More than the accolades on the pitch, we are so proud that they are becoming the next coach, the next tutor, the next mentor for the younger children in our community. Fairplay works to the level the playing field, creating opportunities for the kids in our community to break the cycle of poverty through holistic mentoring. To achieve this, we operate the Payatas Sports Center, where roughly 200 kids play every week, the Youth Center, which has 63 Fairplay Scholars, and the Fairplay Cafe which caters 500 meals every week.

Fairplay will now be hosting a Welcome Back Dinner with our team at the Youth Center at 34 Bicol St. Payatas, Quezon City, at 5pm on Saturday, July 29.

Media personnel are welcome to join, please email us at ffaoundation@gmail.com for your confirmation or for further information and pictures.