In The Philippines, Many Coaches Prefer Working At Private Schools

There’s an old adage in football: “If coaches don’t feel valued, there’s no way that players will improve.”

Football is flourishing in The Philippines–especially at private schools with great facilities. Top competition matches are shown on TV.

Courtesy: Geonarri Solmerano

Private coaches enjoy their job because they have reasonable contracts and good working conditions. That can’t be said for many football clubs and football academies, where coaches are paid per training session. Some coaches are paid as low as PHP 4000,00 per month; and facilities and basic training equipment are appalling at some public schools.

That situation brings to mind an old coaching adage: “If coaches don’t feel valued, there’s no way that players will improve.”

Some public school teams train five times a week–two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon. That’s asking a lot of coaches.

Many public school coaches will tell you that they enjoy coaching the kids–I certainly do–but it’s also true that public school coaches don’t always carry the respect that teachers do. An example is interference by supervising teachers during training. Supervisors can make you feel as though your job is unimportant.