Another great month has passed for Fairplay and as we head into April we take a quick look back to March, 2017, and a look at what’s coming up for Fairplay.

Payatas Football Club

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On the last Fairplay Highlights we let you know Althea was included in the National Team Training Pool. This month we can congratulate Althea again as she has been included in the National Team Training Camp.

She will join the team in the University of the Philippines Los Banos campus for the one-month training camp, where the 30 girls squad will be cut to 18 to represent the Philippines in Laos for the AFF (Southeast Asia) U15 Championships. Althea is the third girl from Payatas FC to get this far, after her older sister Regine and their cousin Angelica. Althea will also be graduating from Elementary School on April 5.

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Back in Payatas, the Payatas Sports Center has started construction for Stage 2. This means improving the walls and netting around the Sports Center, then putting bleachers at the side of the court (we will be hosting youth leagues and tournaments as part of our sustainability projects), improving the stockroom to include an office and rooms for the security guards, a local family who will act as security guards to help them, and toilet facilities.

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Also the Coaching Courses are in full swing. We are training our older players, from 13 to 20 years old, to become coaches with Payatas FC. We provide them with a small allowance for coaching younger age grous meaning we can have more training sessions and the young coaches can gain training and skills and a small allowance so they don’t have to scavenge. A real win-win situation. Find out more about Sports Not Scavenging here as we’re now at 16% of our fundraising target to help stop kids scavenging through trash and train as sports coaches while they study in school instead.

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Lastly, Payatas FC also joined the British School of Manila’s Development Tournament. No scores or results are posted meaning the kids are free to enjoy their day and their play without pressure. We brought a U12 and U11 team, many of whom were playing on grass for the very first time! It was a great morning for the players, a lovely experience for many who had never left Payatas before. We look forward to the next one.

Fairplay School

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The First Full Cycle of 2017 has been completed and the kids are back into their normal routine with classes. Our Cycles are 4 weeks of classes and teaching followed by a 1 week break for teacher’s to prepare (like half-term or sem-break). Our Cycles were a bit delayed starting this year as we spent time getting the School registered as an ALS Center.

For those who are new to Fairplay, the Fairplay School is a registered ALS Center (alternative learning system) meaning we can create a flexible and supportive learning environment driven by the students. When our students feel ready they can take the Equivalency Tests to gain Elementary and then High School diplomas.

As we head into the Summer Cycle after Holy Week we will hold classes in the morning and then the kids will join clubs in the afternoon. The afternoon clubs are being finalised but will feature around Dance, Music, Animation, Drumming, Film, Sports, and Production Design.

Social Business

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In March, the Fairplay Café had a busy and productive time. We catered for 220 people at the StraightArrow Corporation’s Town Hall Meetaing and hosted a Community Day with William Hill. The Fairplay Café was also at BSM’s Development Tournament (noted above) as well as several other events at BSM.

Our target this year is for 20% of our income to come from such Social Business. As we grow this means our income becomes more and more sustainable and a bigger and bigger chunk of running costs – necessary but often difficult to fund – will be self-funded. That means every bit of support that comes from you and our other supporters goes directly to the projects with the kids.

Get Involved

It’s been a busy and productive time for Fairplay in the first three months of 2017. What a start to the year this First Quarter! We will be putting together the Q1 Fairplay Newsletter by the end of April so look out for that too.

So whatever your situation you can get involved, have fun, and learn with us as we empower families together in Payatas.

Contact Us for more information about how you can get involved.