I still remember the first time I tried coding my own soccer game on Scratch last summer. The colorful blocks, the sprites moving across the screen, the satisfying click when you snap code together - it felt like digital LEGO meets the beautiful game. That's why when I heard about RHJ on Tour's coding workshops, I knew I had to check it out. The program kicked off last June 7 in Quezon City and will be held in various locations every weekend until the end of July, bringing together football enthusiasts and aspiring coders in a unique blend of sports and technology.
Walking into the Quezon Memorial Circle on that first Saturday, I was struck by how many young faces were there - kids as young as eight sitting alongside teenagers and even some adults like myself, all eager to learn. The air buzzed with excitement, partly because of the football drills happening on the side, but mostly because of the rows of computers set up for what they called "digital playmaking." The instructors started with the basics: how to create a field, add players, and make them move with arrow keys. But what really caught my attention was when they introduced the concept of "Scratch Football: A Beginner's Guide to Creating Your Own Soccer Game" - a framework they developed specifically for these workshops.
The beauty of Scratch lies in its simplicity. You don't need to type complex code; you just drag and connect colorful blocks that represent different commands. Within an hour, I had created two players that could run around a green field, though my goalkeeper kept moving off-screen in rather hilarious ways. The instructor, Marco Santos, a computer science student from UP Diliman, told me they've reached approximately 380 participants across three locations already. "What we're seeing," he explained while helping a kid fix her scoring system, "is that the principles we teach in 'Scratch Football: A Beginner's Guide to Creating Your Own Soccer Game' apply beyond just game development. Kids learn logical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity - skills that translate both on the digital pitch and the real one."
I noticed something interesting during the workshop - the football concepts made the coding easier to grasp. When Marco explained variables, he used "score" as the example. When he talked about conditional statements, he demonstrated with offside rules. This approach made abstract programming concepts feel concrete and familiar. One twelve-year-old named Javier showed me his game where he'd added a special feature: when a player scored, fireworks would explode and a crowd cheer sound played. "I stayed up last night watching YouTube tutorials," he confessed proudly. "Now I want to add different stadium backgrounds for each level."
What struck me most was how the RHJ on Tour program bridges two worlds that often feel separate - sports and technology. While the kids rotated between coding sessions and actual football practice, I could see the connections forming in their minds. The coach would explain positioning on the field, and minutes later, I'd see them implementing similar positioning logic in their games. This interdisciplinary approach is something I wish more educational programs would adopt. We tend to pigeonhole kids as either "sporty" or "techie," but here they're discovering they can be both.
The workshop made me reflect on my own childhood, where computer class meant learning Microsoft Office while PE meant sports - never the twain shall meet. Today's kids are growing up in a world where technology integrates with everything, and programs like RHJ on Tour understand that. I spent about four hours at the event and saw remarkable progress in the participants' projects. Simple games evolved into complex simulations with multiple players, score tracking, and even basic AI for computer-controlled opponents. One particularly ambitious team was working on a penalty shootout game with three different difficulty levels.
As the sun set over Quezon City that Saturday, with the last football being packed away and laptops being shut down, I realized this is more than just a coding workshop. It's about creating a new generation of creators who understand both the thrill of sports and the power of technology. The "Scratch Football: A Beginner's Guide to Creating Your Own Soccer Game" methodology they've developed could easily be replicated in schools nationwide. The remaining sessions running through July will likely attract hundreds more aspiring coders and football fans. Personally, I'm already planning to attend another session to improve my own game - my virtual goalkeeper still needs some work, but now I have the tools to fix him myself.
