SaiPa player impressed by young Philippine hockey players’ skills

The new SaiPa hockey player David Goodwin recently started his career in the Finnish Elite League after a week in the Philippines, where he helped lead a three-day hockey camp together with his prior teammate hockey player Patrick Koudys. The camp proceeds funded a leading charitable organization, PANDOO Foundation.

“Coming to Manila and working to develop the game in a very non-traditional market with all the proceeds going to charity was an incredible opportunity, experience and memory,” stated Goodwin. “I was surprised by the players’ skill level and commitment, particularly the teenagers.”

The Philippines is the latest staging ground for hockey in the region. Two new purpose-built, NHL-sized facilities opened last year, including one in the capital city of Manila and the other in Cebu.

The event was co-sponsored by the Philippine Ice Hockey Federation and consisted of 37 local youth players ranging in age from 8-17. Chris Sy, President of Hockey Philippines, was thrilled to have the NCAA Hockey presence in town. “PANDOO always sources the top talent. Having the Penn State guys join us last week was a huge treat for our players. We can’t wait to have them back.”

“The Filipinos were so hospitalble and we had a great time seeing the city of Manila,” commented Goodwin, “It’s going to be a cold winter in Finland so getting on the ice in the tropics was a nice way to level things out.”

PANDOO Foundation is a Singapore-based non-profit organization that uses the online game PANDOO Nation to connect kids to causes in developing countries. Several of the founders of PANDOO Nation are hockey players who regularly compete in tournaments and host charity hockey schools in Asia.