Did you know that NFL (the US’ National Football League) star Camryn Bynum of the Minnesota Vikings spends the NFL off-season in the Philippines? Bynum is Filipino through his mother, Jen, a third generation Filipino-American. He and his family established the nonprofit Bynum Faith Foundation to provide aid and holistic relief to underprivileged communities in the United States and the Philippines through food distribution, helping rebuild homes of disaster victims, providing tools for livelihood and education, and inspiring youth in athletic activities.
Flag football, part of the sports program of the LA 2028 Summer Olympics (LA28), is a non-tackling version of American football in a five-on-five format. Flag football is played by an estimated 20 million people in 100 countries—including the Philippines. When Bynum discovered that the Philippines had its own small flag football community, he was inspired to use his platform and resources to help elevate and grow awareness for Flag football in the country. And Camp Beezy was born.
Now going on its fourth edition, Camp Beezy is a series of flag football training camps
for players of all experience levels. Bynum brings in professional coaches and trainers, and sometimes his fellow NFL players to work with the participants.
In a 2024 interview with The Game, Bynum said, “I think there’s so much good talent out here, especially among Filipinos. It’s just a matter of experience and people actually playing the game.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by RIESA Management, Inc.’s COO, Anthony Raymond, himself an avid flag football player. RIESA has partnered with the Bynum Faith Foundation to help expand flag football’s reach in the Philippines. “We believe that flag football is a sport that Filipinos can excel in. This is relatively a new sport to the country that we believe can grow and expand in a few years,” Raymond said.
RIESA is a locally-grown service hospitality company that manages and develops lifestyle boutique hotels and restaurants. Some of its brands are Hotel Dumaguete, Cala Laiya, La Mensa Dumaguete, and Buglas Isla Café.
Camp Beezy Vol. 4 took place in Vermosa last February 20-22, bringing in 75 players from around the Philippines and Asia to experience “a day in the life of an NFL player,” with coaching, training and drills, physical therapy and strategy sessions, and playing, of course. RIESA hosted a lunch for Bynum and his team at Buglas Isla Cafe in Alabang on February 23. As Raymond said, “Maybe it’s time for us to groom Filipino athletes for our best physical attributes—speed, agility and quickness.”
