DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 July)—While the Filipino community cheered for the Philippine women’s football team’s first victory in the FIFA World Cup, my friend spurred a discussion on his Facebook post about how Pinoy is this team, and what do we make of our sports development.
“Philippine team?! Sure?” my friend T posted on his account.
Facebook went nuts that day with footages of the team cheering for their first ever World Cup goal courtesy of Sarina Bolden’s header. But one thing that struck most of us, including me, was how the Philippine team looked more Caucasian or African than being Pinay.
Indeed, the 23-member Philippine women’s football team has 18 members who were born to migrant families in the United States, but were scouted by the Philippine football coaching staff to be part of this team.
I shared on his post an article where team members said they “share the same blood” and are happy to play and represent the country, as a sense of connection to their roots.
Then another friend B, who has been living in the United States for nearly a decade said:
“There is such a thing as diaspora. And Filipino blood is mongrel blood. Those who were born in the Philippines cannot claim exclusivity to being the only Filipinos. Second, we who were born in the Philippines share genetics with Polynesians, Chinese, the Spanish, among others.”
T: “.. wa koy problema ana.. ang ako lang, murag wa man gani katamak sa Pilipinas. ang point nako is wala man sila sa Pinas.. dili sila taga diri. (I have no problem with that. My thing is, I don’t think [the team members] have not even stepped on Philippine soil. The point is they weren’t raised here. They did not come from here.).”
B: How sure are you? So ako, di na pud ko Pilipino kay naa man ko sa Amerika…. Kanang mga Fil-Am nga mga aktibista, di sila kaapil … kay naa man sila sa Amerika? Kapoy na nang proud proud nga istorya. (If that’s the case, I’m no longer Filipino because I live in America now. If Fil-Ams become activists here, can’t they not join because they are in America? This pride thing is tiresome.) Pero to exclude people of their Filipino lineage just because they look different than most of us is a different issue.”
I stepped in their conversation and said: “To strike a balance, the problem is really with the politics in the country’s sports development, daghan na nahitabo pod sa past nga nag apas lang og medalya so nangita dayon og Fil-foreigners. Nag short cut ba. I think kana ang argument ni T (There have been instances when we just want to go after medals so they just scout for Filipino foreigners. It’s making shortcuts).”
T responded: “ok ra ko anang naay mga bahid ng langyaw, pero ang sa ako, go home and train in the soil, with the locals.. asa man ang locals ani nga team? And usa pa, klaruhon ang budget para sa pagpalambo sa team apil na ang culture.. mura lang ta ani ug nidayo ug dula unya along the way namik-ap ta para mukusog ang tropa, wala ta magtarong ug palambo sa atong gigikanan. (I’m fine with having mixed Filipinos, but for me, come home and train in the soil, with the local. Where are the locals in the team? One more thing, let’s make clear there is a budget to develop the team, their culture. What I see now is like they are just visiting the league and picked up players to reinforce the team. We have not developed our team properly.)”
This was a discussion where both sides raised valid points. We have a diaspora where young Filipinos want to trace their roots. Being into sports, arts, culture and even politics connects them to their mother country. We should be proud if they want to connect with us, rather than most of us having this tendency to become gaga when we discover a Hollywood actor or singer has Pinoy blood and claim oneness with their popularity.
But sports development is another thing that really needs to be talked about. I know what my friend is talking about, because how many times have we seen young local athletes miss the chance to grow, because of the lack of support?
We have seen many times how national teams are hastily formed, poorly trained, and sports officials seem to be the ones enjoying a big chunk of the budget while athletes sweat in antiquated gyms. I have another friend coaching in the regional team who said they have meager budget that they have to sleep in airports to save money.
Forming national teams with Fil-foreigners may or may not work, and may not impact much in the long run. I’m trying to remember the national football team, Azkals, and wonder where is the rest of this team now. Probably playing in foreign soil. One more thing, maybe the only Pinoy thing they got to do at that time was appearing in a commercial for soy sauce.
But this is just our opinion. We do not take away the victory, the effort, the sweat and tears of this football team where these young athletes raise the flag for us. We enjoy their feat, hope they accomplish more, hope they connect more with their roots. But more importantly we hope our sports officials get to connect more with local athletes, raise their pride as well.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Tyrone A. Velez is a freelance journalist and writer.)
