Fil-Brits to promote football, education

MANILA, Philippines -  Filipino-Britons Phil and James Younghusband are throwing their full support to 1GOAL: Education for All  a campaign by the 2010 FIFA World Cup using football to help over 72 million children around the world, including six million Filipinos, get a chance to have an education.

“I’d been wanting to support a charity for some time. I think this is it for me,” said Phil Younghusband in yesterday’s Youth League organized by the Muntinlupa Parañaque Las Piñas Football Association coinciding with the launch of the 1GOAL program at the Alabang Country Club grounds.

“1GOAL is a football campaign ideal for me and my brother (James). We want to promote football as well as education because sports is a great way to have an education through scholarships,” Phil added.

The Younghusbands and the MPLFA headed by RP women’s team manager Cathy Rivilla are promoting the program together with VSO Bahaginan, an organization committed to fighting poverty through a wide range of volunteering development programs.

“We organize the MPLFA Youth League on a regular basis because we believe that is an effective method to develop the skills of each player,” said Rivilla.

“Along the way, we also hope to build the spirit of sharing teamwork among players in the hope that they can see beyond themselves,” she added.

The Younghusbands are so dedicated in encouraging Filipinos to embrace football that they put up The Younghusband Football Academy (TYFA), which is under the MPLFA.

“I guess this is our calling,” said Younghusband.

The 1GOAL campaign calls for “Education for All” by getting 30 million people globally to sign up and support the campaign.

The signatures to be gathered will be presented to the world leaders attending the UN heads of state summit in New York in September to urge them to prioritize learning and influence policies on education in their countries.

“Football is a powerful channel to reach out to millions of people. We believe that with collective voices, we have the capacity to eradicate poverty by sending kids to school,” said Younghusband.

“What’s best is that it only takes a minute to sign up to support the campaign,” he added.

Interested parties may sign up at www.vsobahagian.org.ph/1goal.