Team vows out but message inspires
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20-August 20, 2023
Mildred German
Vancouver, BC – Twenty-seven year old Filipino-American Sarina Bolden of the Philippines women’s national football team, Filipinas, made history after scoring the Philippine’s first goal in the 2023 FIFA World Cup yesterday, July 25, 2023 in the Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand.
New Zealand’s loss is an upset for the co-host country with the 1-0 victory in favor of the Philippines. Filipinas’ first-ever win was a stunning comeback after a 2-0 loss in their bout with Switzerland on July 21st.
SARINA BOLDEN
Filipino-American professional footballer Sarina Isabel Calpo Bolden was born in Santa Clara, California, U.S.A. She is famed for scoring the first-ever FIFA World Cup goal for the Philippines at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup on July 25, 2023 in New Zealand. She represents the Philippines women’s national football team, Filipinas, at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (which is dubbed ‘to be the biggest women’s football tournament yet’).
Long before her historic World Cup goal, Bolden has been notoriously known for her impressive performance at the 2018 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Women’s Cup where she scored the winning goal for the Philippines in the 2-1 victory against Jordan.
A young promising athlete, Bolden’s career expanded in the U.S.A. She also competed internationally, notably awarded third-place in the 2021 Southeast Asian Games.
FILIPINAS: THE PHILIPPINES WOMEN’S NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM
Filipinas is the Philippines women’s national football team and is the first (men’s or women’s) Philippine football team to reach the World Cup. Thus Filipinas’ July 25, 2023 win also marked the first-ever World Cup victory by a Philippine football team.
Formerly nicknamed ‘Malditas’, the Philippines women’s national football team adopted ‘Filipinas’ in 2022— as their official nickname. (‘Malditas’ could be mistranslated from Tagalog to English as ‘spoiled brats’, instead of the fierce, empowered, and strong Filipinas that they are.)
Managed to date by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF), the governing body of football in the Philippines, the Philippines women’s national football team’s formation can be traced as far back as 1980.
Current squad recruits are coached by Alen Stajci, who also chose the 23 qualified athletes to proudly represent Filipinas and the Philippines Women’s World Cup 2023 squad. Filipinas members are namely Tahnai Annis, Alicia Barker, Angela Beard, Sarina Bolden, Reina Bonta, Ryley Bugay, Anicka Castañeda, Malea Cesar, Jessika Cowart, Sara Eggesvik, Isabella Flanigan, Kiara Fontanilla, Carleigh Frilles, Katrina Guillou, Kaiya Jota, Hali Long, Chandler McDaniel, Olivia McDaniel, Isabella Pasion, Quinley Quezada, Dominique Randle, Jaclyn Sawicki, and Meryll Serrano.
As many Filipinas players hail from the diaspora, Coach Stajcic’s answers published in a July 4, 2023 Inquirer.net’s article gives light to the team’s recruitment strategy, “Anyone with a Filipino passport, I don’t really care where they are born. If they have the Philippines in their heart and in their blood and they are a good footballer then they are eligible for our team”. https://sports.inquirer.net/520450/wherever-born-filipinas-team-members-all- play-for-the-ph-flag-stajcic#ixzz88ZQ9xSrF
IN CANADA, UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA WOMEN’S SOCCER CELEBRATES ALUMNA
UVIC Vikes, the University of Victoria’s Varsity Athletics, celebrates alumna, Filipinas football player, Jaclyn Sawicki. Born and raised in Coquitlam, BC with Filipino and Polish heritage, Sawicki was recognised in the UVIC Vike’s website and social media as ‘a former Vike’s women’s soccer sensation’. https://govikesgo.com/sports
Although a former University of Victoria star player, the Canadian team reportedly rejected Sawicki. This rejection did not end Sawicki’s football career: with her undeniable talent, dreams, and perseverance, she took advantage of her (maternal) Filipino ancestry to play for the Philippines
Women’s National Football Team, which qualified to play the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
To compete in the World Cup is a dream come true for the 30-year old Sawicki. The Coquitlam native is eligible to represent Canada, Poland, and the Philippines at the international level. Currently, Sawicki proudly represents Filipinas and the Philippines in the 2023 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, and continues to make milestones.
As Philippine football fans celebrate Philippine’s first-ever victory in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, they too celebrate the Philippine diaspora, the talents of the Filipino people in the Philippines and the diaspora, and the strength and courageous spirit of Filipino women in whatever battle, since and now, be it migration, or football.
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Filipinas’ World Cup dream cut short, but Sarina Bolden’s message inspires football fans