Ceniza joins Barca camp in Manila

PAREF Springdale’s Mario Lorenzo Ceniza took the chance to join the camp of his favorite team, which sent two coaches to the Philippines for the first FC Barcelona Escola Camp at Alabang Country Club, which will run until this Sunday. The five-day intensive camp, which started last Wednesday, is for boys and girls ages 6 to 14 years old. Ceniza is among the 144 participants nationwide who were divided into two batches. He belongs to the morning group and has daily sessions from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., while the afternoon group meets from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. After he was informed by his father, Paref Springdale head coach Mario Ceniza of the camp, the prodigious midfielder did not think twice of attending camp. “He grew up as a fan of FC Barcelona. Pagsulti gyud nako niya, ganahan na gyud dayun siya,” said the older Ceniza. Ceniza was recently named the Most Valuable Player in the Boys 14 category of the 15th Aboitiz Football Cup. The camp costs P18,000 for the entire duration but his father and coach said that the expenses would not match the experience that they get out of it. “I want to know how far he has gone. He was under me for a long time and although I believe maayo siya, I don’t know kung unsa siya na level and what are the things he has to improve,” said Ceniza. Not only will his son learn from the camp but the coach himself will benefit from it as he gets to observe how world-class coaches conduct the camp. “Kita ko kung unsay paagi nila ug gibantayan pud nako unsa ang mga new drills na gigamit,” he added. Ceniza noticed that the trainings are synchronized from kids aged 6 to 14 and only differs in the intensity level. Most of the kids experienced something new as they warmed up by juggling balls before stretching. With the overwhelming response, they had to limit it to a certain number and had to turn down some requests. However, they plan to hold a provincial camp either in Cebu or Iloilo.