THE MOMENT Kevin James Olayvar stepped into College of St. Benilde, it was finally time for him to fully express himself.
Gone were the days when he needed to sport a 2x3 haircut as he can style his hair in whatever fashion he chooses.
It was also in college, where he could translate his love for football into the bigger leagues, given his arrival to the NCAA ranks.
However there was one thing that held him to fully commit to the Blazers.
"Bakit kailangan ko magpakalbo?" he reflected. "Lahat ng rookies ng La Salle schools, kailangan magpakalbo, so hindi na ako tumuloy. Hindi na ako nag-training the next day," he reflected.
Kevin thought that this would finally be his time to forego the typical hair cut rules that are normally associated in high school, but it turned out he needed to conform to the tradition.
He then considered joining the college's pep squad, however...
"Pero I still wanted to do some extra-curricular activity. So sabi ko, 'Magpe-pep squad na lang ako ng drum,' Ang sabi sa akin, 'Magpapakalbo ka doon kasi rookie ka e."
While it may seem Kevin has wasted a glorious opportunity, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Not only will this allow him to focus on his studies as an architecture student, as Kevin likewise discovered something that would later define his career.
Desperate to play football, Kevin traveresed around the football fields in BGC, Circuit Makati, etc, and his experienced gave him a lightbulb moment.
A community mover
During his college years, Kevin has been organizing football communities and events. Due to his efforts he slowly raised a community, which even included his current business partner, Raf Gastador.
"Last year ko sa school, I was doing twice a week, organizing football events. Two hours a night so parang four hours a week yung work ko for organizing football. I was earning around 6-digits a month so I was earning more than someone na nagtatrabaho 8-4 sa office."
Such an experience motivated Olayvar to further tap into the potential of his community. He even admitted that he slowly lost his interest with architecture.
"During my last year sa architecture medyo nawala na yung passion ko sa architecture. Mas na-excite ako sa pag-o-organize, I'm talking with people, meeting new people, doing something I loved and never akong na-bore sa ginagawa ko."
Suddenly, an opportunity came for him to fulfill their needs.
"So nagkaroon ng opportunity, 2016. They're looking for a group to share the whole pitch, two half pitch sharing. Sabi ko, 'Sige kunin ko yung half muna kasi may mga friends na gustong maglaro. So nag-i-invite ako ng tao. Tapos eventually lumaki nang lumaki," he recounted.
"Then kinausap ko yung nagpa-rent, sabi ko 'Pwede ko bang kunin ito every Tuesday, 10 pm ng gabi. We had an agreement for one year tuloy-tuloy. Parang doon ko na-realize na pwede kong gumawa ng branding ko, kasi I'm inviting people to come in to play and I'm the one organizing."
As his community flourished, it was time for Kevin to dig deep and invest. He started by purchasing more footballs and then went on with training vests.
Eventually it was time to enter the next phase. Gone were the days when he would only rent half a field.
"So doon ko na-build yung experience ko to organize. Eventually lumaki na siya and I made my own brand, Underground Football."
"Fast forward, I built my name sa community, nagpapa-training na ako sa beginners," he said.
His efforts was then followed by a major turning point.
Setting up the Cherry Turf
While working as a sports analyst for a betting site, Olayvar suddenly received a call from SM Cherry. The discussions were centered on his dream.
"They told me, 'We saw your page and they're contacting different communities sa football and they're looking for someone to build a football field."
It may seem daunting for someone who is only experienced to setup football communities and events, to suddenly build the field of dreams.
But nothing seemed to hold Olayvar back especially when he recalled that scene from The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
A football pitch on a roof deck? That's something to marvel at. Eventually it was time for him to make that leap of faith.
"Sige I'll go there to check the place and fast forward we agreed with this, one week after, gumawa na ako ng resignation letter sa work ko."
Together with his business partner Raf, Olayvar envisioned a football pitch like no other. They specifically opted to purchase one of the most state-of-the-art pitches in the world, a FIFA-grade, Limonta artificial turf from Italy, which costs around millions of Pesos.
For four months they had to wait for their field to arrive, and as they waited, Kevin had to apply what he learned in college to further bring out the best of the world class field.
He wasn't able to fully commit and practice architecture to the point where he is a licensed worker, but his knowledge allowed them to save time and cut costs.
"Technically sayang yung course ko pero I've learned a lot from this course. Maganda naman yung curriculum ng architecture sa Benilde because it was all-around. I've learned how to do graphics, Photoshop, video, editing, concepts, designing."
"So when we made this field, I was able to implement all of my learnings. Wala na kaming kinuhang architect to build it."
A field of dreams
Ever since the Turf was launched last December 2022, Kevin and Raf have been busy as there have been receiving bookings left-and-right. Their location was a strategic one as their field is located near condo units and is placed centrally around the metro.
Combined that with the massive parking spot and the prestige of the Audi logo overlooking the field, and playing on the Cherry Turf becomes a source of inspiration to those who step on the FIFA-grade field.
And speaking about inspiration, that's exactly the vision of Kevin and Raf's company, Optimal Athletics Inc.
While earning revenues are important to keep the field alive, supporting the dreams of others is likewise crucial.
"Right now we're in a partnership with Gawad Kalinga. We're giving them free schedules, twice a week for the kids in the community to play for free," stated Olayvar.
"These kids are mga scholars din, they're trying to fix their lives in general and that's our way of giving back to the community."
"When we gave them the opportunity to play here, ang dami sa kanila na first time lang nakatapak ng football field. Hawak na namin yun na dahil sa amin itong batang ito, nakalaro ng football. What if this kid's got potential?"
And it's not just about the beautiful game of football, as Optimal Athletics are also gearing towards servicing other sports.
As Raf Gastador perfectly said: "We formed the company as a vision to support sports in general. We think big talaga from the start, not just football. There are other sports that we want to tap into pero it's still ideas pa lang."
For those interested to play on the football field, do check out Cherry Turf Philippines' page.
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