PSA: Philippine Football!

I first met Phil Younghusband in August 12 of last year at a dinner in Enderun for my alma mater’s alumni. It was there that I met Cathy Nazareno- Rivilla once again– Cathy’s been friends with both my brothers since their college days, so Cathy has probably seen me every so often since I was a kid (although I hope she has forgotten what I looked like back then hahaha). Phil was with Cathy at the time, having just finished an interview for a newspaper about their football academy.

Photo taken August 12, 2010 (Eeps this is a very stalker-ish photo, but oye I didn’t stalk him like some women apparently did hahaha!)

Phil is a genuinely nice guy even from that first time that I got to sit down and chat with him. He and his brother James are Filipino- British football players who have played for the highly prestigious Chelsea FC in the UK and are integral to the success of Azkals,

Photo credit: Google images

the Philippine National Football team. Pretty awesome because at that time, I didn’t even know what the Azkals were (shoot me for thinking it was a basketball team the first time I heard of it), but I knew they were winning and they were very, very good!

Going back to Cathy– she is actually the only Filipino who was awarded the prestigious Match Commissioner of the Year back in 2008 by the Asian Football Confederation in Malaysia, and was subsequently recognized by the Philippine Sportswriters Association in 2009 for her contribution in Philippine Football. And together with the Younghusband siblings, they put up The Younghusband Football Academy, of which she sits as executive director.

I love that football is finally getting the recognition it deserves (I became a football fan when I was pregnant with my 1st child– couldn’t stop watching football games. It drove my husband nuts coz I hogged the telly hahaha), with the help of Azkals, the Younghusbands, and Cathy.

The Younghusbands Football Academy (TYFA), in cooperation with the Philippine Navy and the City of Taguig, is now offering a football Summer Camp! While the 1st module has been completed, the 2nd one is about to begin, so you can still enroll your children!

Schedule: MAY 10- 31 from 3:00pm- 5:00pm every Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Venue: Bonifacio Naval Station (BNS) Parade Grounds, Marine Barracks Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

TYFA Summer Camp also has an ongoing Scholarship Program wherein selected kids participate from the following communities: DSWD’s Nayon sa Kabataan, Gawad Kalinga: Smokey Mountain, Arkong Bato, and Tatalon. This will serve to boost cooperation skills and camaraderie with all children– and in the process they walk away with new friends 🙂 !

For more information on The Younghusband Football Academy (TYFA), please visit their Facebook page

TYFA Summer Camp is sponsored by: Gatorade, Blackberry, Collezione C2, Hush Puppies, Johnson & Johnson, 3M