The fate of the existing national teams, especially that of the Little Azkals otherwise known as the Philippine Under 14, will be determined right after the summit that is being planned by Philippine Football Federation (PFF) national teams committee chair Dan Palami this month.
The summit, which is in line with one of PFF’s programs to come up with a sustainable program with centralized and homogenous system of play that will be implemented in all age-group levels, will discuss in length the role and accountability of national team managers.
Palami said that having a centralized and sustainable program will enforce accountability on a national team’s manager.
A manager should be accountable for everything in the program that he implements for the team’s development, including an individual players improvement.
Palami said that a manager should be able to come up with a sustainable program for the team he is handling that is in line with PFF’s program.
Most importantly, he should present it to the PFF so the national football body is also updated with the team’s progress.
PFF’s aim is to have all national teams compete in important Asian Football Confederation and Asean Football Federation tournaments and qualifiers, so the decision on what tournaments the national teams will compete in lies solely with the PFF.
Other tournaments and training camps outside PFF plans will be at the discretion of the managers but still subject to the approval of the PFF, especially in terms of financial sustainability.
“Sustainable is the perfect term,” said one parent of a member of one of the national teams. The parent, who asked not to be named, added that if a young player has no passion for the sport, they can easily give it up anytime.
She said that she hopes Palami, being the PFF chair of national teams, will see other age groups equally as he sees the Azkals as they seek to move on up the age-group ladder. He should also focus on the young players.
Palami said he is looking forward to seeing these young players become members of the senior’s team thus the coming up of a centralized and sustainable program for all national teams.