MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Women's Soccer Team can add another Gael to their list of players with international experience. Maya Alcantara got the chance to train and play with Team Philippines in Sydney, Australia in April of 2022, after they had qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in their history.
 
The graduating senior had shown interest in training with the team previously, and the current coaching staff extended the invite after her most recent inquiry.
 
"I had emailed the team multiple times through my college career about playing with them, and they never replied," Alcantara said. "After this last season, I thought, 'I might as well try emailing them again,' and they replied this time and had just qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history, with a new coaching staff that will be with them through the World Cup."
 
With former Australia Women's Team Head Coach Alen Stajcic on board, the program included Alcantara in its current infusion of North American Filipina talent along with home-grown players from the Philippines on their roster. The success of this current team is helping raise the profile of soccer in the Philippines as well.
 
"I think having players like us come in with NCAA experience and the resources we have, it helps the federation in general and playing well in the Asian Cup is inspiring so many girls in the Philippines to pick up soccer," Alcantara said.
 
After playing Chinese Taipei to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes of play, the Philippines prevailed 4-3 on penalty kicks to become the 37th nation ever to qualify for a Women's World Cup on January 30.
 
The Philippines squad has a strong base of players from the United States, including 12 who are currently based here — some still in college — while their three European-based players (in Cyprus, Spain, and Sweden) and two abroad in Japan's WE-League, were all born in the U.S. and played collegiately here.
 
Only six of the 23-person roster at the this year's AFC Women's Asian Cup Finals in India played for club teams in the Philippines. The program's ability to find talented players of Filipino descent in the U.S. has been considered crucial to its qualification.
 
"It was a lot of Americans, but it was nice because we're all Filipina so we have a cultural bond, and had similar upbringings," Alcantara added. "We all considered each other family or cousins, that we would do anything for and support each other. Sometimes you don't have that on teams with a lot of diversity, it can be hard finding common ground. But one thing that's big in Filipino culture is family. You'd do anything for your family."
 
Because of the somewhat upstart status and international mix of the Philippines Women's Soccer program, the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. native had a different experience than some of her teammates did in their international invites.
 
"I talked to Kylie Glock about her experience with team Thailand," Alcantara mentioned. "It differed from mine completely because most of their players are homegrown, so it was kind of a challenge to adjust to the language and cultural barrier. I was fortunate that a lot of the girls are from the states but it's also unfortunate that they don't have many homegrown players yet."
 
The Philippines Women's National Football Team was formally organized after the Philippine Ladies' Football Association (PLFA) was established in 1980 by Christina Ramos, who played for the team from 1980-86.
 
The national team had a training camp in the United States in 2012 where management scouted for players with Filipino heritage in the United States, similar to the invites extended to U.S. born Filipina players now, as they did during an ID camp in The States in 2017 and in November of 2021.
 
Some countries may seek a quick fix in importing U.S.-born players as Greece did when they hosted the Olympics in 2004, but the Philippines has been building a rapidly improving team at the regional level by calling upon U.S.-based talent.
 
They had 14-U.S.-based players at the last Women's Asian Cup in 2018 in Jordan (their first finals since 2003), and had a chance to qualify for the World Cup in 2019 but lost to South Korea, 5-0.

"I was invited to the camp about two weeks before it happened," Alcantara noted. "It was a two-week camp and it was a lot. It was similar to our away schedule here at Saint Mary's. You train, eat lunch, go to the gym, have meetings, go to bed and repeat that for two weeks. So, it was a lot of soccer, but it was fun because I got to meet people from all around the world."
 
Despite mix of players from all over the U.S. and the Philippines, soccer is still soccer, and Alcantara enjoyed experiencing a different brand of play.
 
"It was really competitive, and it's awesome having people from different colleges and professionals coming together," Alcantara said. "And it was kind of nice playing a different style of soccer than here, they really focus on possession and wasn't as direct or aggressive as the states. It was a lot possession, trying to keep the ball, and finesse."
 
The Philippines squad is now planning and preparing for the 2023 Women's World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2023. There are five more camps till the World Cup for Team Philippines. One at the end of June in Europe and a tournament in the Philippines that follows. Players are invited to each camp separately.
 
"My biggest takeaway is that the Philippines federation is under-resourced, but that didn't matter to the girls," Alcantara said. "They qualified for the World Cup for the first time in team Philippines history – men or women – so despite everything, they found a way to make history and are continuing to do so."