FOLLOWING BACK-TO-BACK third place finishes in the UAAP, nothing less than a title will do for the Ateneo Women’s Football Team (AWFT).
Although the team has lost stalwarts such as backline leader Maan Cadayona, young rookies have joined the fray to help steer the campaign in the right direction. Expected to make an early impact among the recruits are midfielder Bea Velasco and attacker Tessa Bernardo.
With more defensive players leaving than entering, resident national team player Nona Amoncio as well as the team’s two co-captains–long ball spraying midfielder Aina Martin and attacking engine Cam Rodriguez–are expected to keep the pressure on the opposition. On the other hand, defenders Julia Sucgang and supersenior Kimbo Jimenez will have even bigger roles to hold the Ateneo back line.
The Lady Eagles, however, have come into their own heading into Season 78, clinching third place with a hard fought 4-3 victory over the University of Santo Tomas during the Philippine Football Federation Women’s Cup while also travelling together to Benguet for a training camp. It was also only a few months prior to these campaigns that the AWFT formed their mantra “Strong Alone and Unbreakable Together.”
“By this we mean [that] no effort we do in the gym or on the field will produce desirable outcomes if we’re not doing it for the sake of our team,” Martin explains.
Rodriguez also added that “[the mantra] has helped keep our dream alive during the grueling prepara- tion of preseason training and uplift us when it matters [in season].”
It was also only a few months prior to their campaigns that the AWFT formed their mantra “Strong Alone and Unbreakable Together.”
It will be these words that will echo as their source of inspiration in their quest to bring the title to the hill for the first time in UAAP history.
