u/noctr4

I’m 18, turning 19 next month, and I’ve been wanting to try playing football competitively, but I honestly don’t know where to start. I know I’m probably not at the level yet and I understand that I’ll need a lot of training and improvement first.

I still want to give it a real shot though. For people who started late or weren’t already in an academy/team setup, how did you begin? Did you join local leagues, train individually first, attend tryouts, or something else?

I’m willing to put in the work, I just don’t really know what the first step should be.

Also, does anyone have football club/training recommendations around Manila that are beginner-friendly but still competitive?

Hi, I’m an 18-year-old male in my first year of college, and I’ve been struggling academically for the past few months. Hindi na ako nakakapasok, and I’ve had no energy to do any schoolwork. Napabayaan ko na talaga yung acads ko because I got deeply affected by my “friends” basically casting me away.

I’m introverted, so I don’t make friends often, and I find it difficult to talk to people I’m not close to. Because of what happened, I slowly lost motivation and ended up isolating myself even more.

Now that finals are coming up, I feel overwhelmed because I’ve barely had time or energy to study. I’m scared to talk to my parents because of the pressure they’ve always put on me. I can’t even answer them properly anymore when they ask about my academics. I keep telling them that everything is “good” even when I know I’m not okay mentally or emotionally.

I learned to hide it because even when I tried opening up to them last semester and told them I was having a hard time, they eventually forgot about it and blamed me instead. They told me I wasn’t putting in enough effort and asked why I never told them I was struggling, when in reality I kept trying to tell them.

I’m also afraid to talk to my girlfriend. I know she’s genuinely trying to help and be there for me, but at the same time, I can feel that she’s getting tired too. I understand that my situation has been affecting her, and sometimes I feel guilty because I know I haven’t been myself lately.

Lately, I’ve been having suicidal thoughts because I’m terrified of letting my parents down. I find myself playing sports more often just to escape those thoughts, and for a while it helps distract me. But every time, without fail, the thoughts eventually come back once everything quiets down again.

I feel trapped, and even if I tell my parents the truth, I feel like they’ll still blame me for everything.

I wanted to talk to my mom about transferring schools because I thought a fresh environment might help me recover and feel less burdened, but now it feels too late to even try transferring.