Football dreams with the Younghusbands Part 2

Football dreams with the Younghusbands Part 2

by rick olivares
This story and the earlier feature on King Camacho are collected in my Business Mirror column of Monday January 31, 2011.

A General’s stand

The next stop of the TYFA was in Tarlac where the brothers held a two-day clinic (January 20 & 21) at the football stadium in the Tarlac Recreational Park. Some 150 PE teachers from all over the province were in attendance to learn the beautiful game. One man in his 60s stood out from the very first day.

Leofel de Leon, in his military buzz cut taught PE at a local public school. During the two-day session, the animated de Leon repeatedly asked the relevant and interesting questions that earned him he sobriquet of “the General” that was bestowed on him by coach Jojo Durian. In a written test conducted by the YFA, “the General” – no surprise here – came out on top.

In the final activity of the second day, the Younghusband brothers conducted a penalty shootout for all the participants. At first, the participants thought that everyone who scored would receive a prize. Phil upped the ante and demanded that there be only one winner. And so the shootout went until it came down to the General who scored every time out and the Azkals’ feared striker, who was caught up in the competitive spirit of the contest, joined in.

To the delight of the crown, both contestants saved each other’s shots while answering goals with one of their own. At the end of the contest, Phil and James declared the General the winner.

As the TYFA coaches and staff prepared for the distribution of Attendance Certificates a few teachers in attendance burst out in glee when they read the white board in the conference hall that listed the members of the Tarlac Province Football Club.  It turned out that de Leon was the club president and in fact a retired military officer. The moniker of “the General” was remarkably apt!

The TYFA arrived in Tarlac with some 150 public school teachers saying they were fans. After two days, it was the brothers who proclaimed themselves as fans of these new friends they had made through the game of football.