New roles for Younghusbands

When it was announced that James and Phil Younghusband had signed a three-year contract with AKTV, my initial impression was that the Filipino-British brothers had decided to redirect the path of their careers from sports to showbiz.
Partly, at least.
Sitcom, noontime hostings, talk shows. I started having visions of the two Azkals starring in these kind of television programs.
That’s why I was surprised when Phil, the younger of the two, told me during a one-on-two interview that he had absolutely no intention of going into show business.
James said neither does he.
If that was the case, what was the contract with AKTV all about?
“No plans at all?” I repeated the question.
“None at all,” the Younghusbands said.
* * *
The first time I laid eyes on the Younghusband brothers, they were featured on television teaching football to young kids—indigent kids if my impression was accurate.
I just accidentally tuned in on that program. The Younghusbands were practically unheard of at the time and the Azkals were yet to be born.
Needless to say, I was both impressed and touched that a pair of Fil-Britons are giving their time and effort to spread the gospel of football in a country where hardly anybody cared about the sport.
For me that was a giant, if not impossible, undertaking.
Although I soon forgot their faces, their unique name I remembered.
I heard it mentioned again when the Philippine football team, now known as Azkals won in the AFC-Suzuki Cup.
From there, football rose to unprecedented heights of popularity. So did the Azkals and the Younghusbands.
* * *
According to James, the contract that he and Phil signed with AKTV has officially made them a part of the primetime sports channel’s roster of football superstars for the next three years.
As Azkals superstars, AKTV sports chief Vitto Lazatin said the brothers will host a series of segments and become the network’s football ambassadors.
“We will be teaching the basics of football, we will share our knowledge of proper diet and nutrition, but that’s not all. We will also teach our viewers how to be a good person and how to socialize with people, stuff like those,” said James.
The Younghusbands will serve as the perfect role model to young athletes and ordinary kids who aspire to be like them.
The two are very friendly and approachable and they have no airs about them, despite their popularity.
The brothers, now orphaned, said they intend to stay in the Philippines for good.
***
“How come you refuse to make your relationship official?” This question did not come from me but from Isah Red, Manila Standard’s entertainment editor who walked in during the interview. He was referring to actress Angel Locsin.
Before Phil could answer the question, Isah asked him another one.
“Why are you still keeping it a secret, when everybody knows about it. If you don’t want to admit, then tell us what she is in your life.”
The scribe had many more juicy questions, but Phil had no interesting answers. I was requested not to publish one particularly interesting question which in itself is very revealing.
Phil decided to switch the conversation to the Younghusbands Football Academy, a mobile football clinic which goes from place to place around the Philippines to teach the sport.
“The clinic also aims to show anyone interested that football can be taught even in a small space. We’ve been doing it for more than two years now. It’s our advocacy,” the Younghusbands said.