Anyone who’s lived in Thailand long enough knows that football inspires Thai people like no other sport. Thai people consistently show how passionate they are about the game, whether as players, spectators or diehard followers of – almost always – English premier league team. Kids play the game from an early age on makeshift concrete fields, on the streets, in parks or at their school, and like so many other youngsters in other countries, dream of one day making it big, just like international football legends David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo.
That dream recently came true for some Thai youths, courtesy of TECNO, a global mobile phone brand. From June 2–6, 2018, more that 70 Thai youths were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take part in a four-day football clinic at the Prem Tinsulanonda International School School in Chiang Mai, with coaches from 2018 English Premier League Champions Manchester City Football Club.
Leveraging their global partnership with Manchester City Football Club, TECNO Mobile launched the “TECNO BlueSquad” initiative in 2017 when they hosted 13 youngsters from across Africa to Manchester City Football Club’s Etihad Stadium in the UK. That was followed with a joint football clinic for school children in Vietnam last month, and now, for the first time in Thailand, TECNO Mobile and Manchester City Football Club were training Thai youths in “the Man-City way”.
Football has taken on a whole life of its own in Thailand in recent years. With Thai teams competing on the regional stage and professional footballers playing in leagues around the world, the country is now home to some of the best players and leagues in Asia. The Women’s team have qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in February 2019; the Thai Men’s team will compete in the Asian Cup in January 2019 and with the FIFA World Cup due to kick-off in Russia later this month, the nation’s interest in football is at an all time high. This can especially be said for the younger generations too, who are set to shape the future of football, and with opportunities like these, may be destined for greatness.
Encouraging them to believe in themselves and follow their passion, the football clinic provided them with a fun and educational environment away from the classroom in which the kids can learn and grow. Youngsters who participated in the clinic were inspired further by Manchester City legend Shay Given, who was in Asia for the first time.
For more information, please visit www.tecno-mobile.com.
