BORN WITH taekwondo in her blood, Jana Morales was destined to follow in the footsteps of her parents–or rather, in their kicks. Her father was a former taekwondo jin at De La Salle University, while her mother competed for the Ateneo, which was how the two met.
With her home life rooted in the martial arts, Morales grew up playing sports like swimming, badminton, and rock climbing. However, her parents thought that it would be a good idea for her play a team sport for a change. In the summer of fifth grade at St. Pedro Poveda College, she fell in love with the beautiful game of football.
Dual athlete
Throughout high school, Morales managed to juggle both sports, training for football on weekdays and taekwondo on weekends. Despite the struggle of balance, she had the best of both worlds, with the martial art imbuing a sense of self-discipline that aided her training both ways.
Her coaches praised her status as a dual athlete because it fostered a certain fighting spirit on both the field and the mat. “That’s what motivated me, that fighting spirit, the attitude to just do it–just keep doing it, just keep fighting,” she said.
Morales’ identity as a dual athlete came to a halt upon entering the Ateneo, as she chose to stick with taekwondo in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). She did this to thank her parents for allowing her to focus more on football during high school. Her retirement from the pitch, however, proved to be short-lived.
Call to action
Hampered by injury last season, the Ateneo Women’s Football Team found itself with a lack of goalkeepers. This proved to be a golden opening that sparked Morales’ return to the field. Gaps on the roster prompted Assistant Coach Marigen Ariel to contact Morales’ father, Jobet, who is the university’s Taekwondo Program Head.
“When I told her that coach is inviting her to join the soccer team, she said that [she would] think about it,” shared the elder Morales. “But I know she was very excited, even if she stopped for a long time.”
Convinced by her father to give football a shot since the taekwondo season had already ended, Morales agreed to put the keeper’s gloves back on after realizing how much she really missed football. Taekwondo ensured that she still had the strong kicking power required from a goalkeeper. Her only issue was to shake off the rust from being off the pitch for three years.
Shifting focus
In spite of finishing with a bronze medal in the UAAP Season 79 football tournament, a shift in priorities has pushed Jana to hang up her gloves once more. The psychology senior has chosen to put her playing career on hold to focus fully on academics and to prepare for the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) in October.
According to Morales, a return to competition is not completely out of the picture, but studies will definitely have to come before sports. “We’ll have to see,” shares Morales. “If they really need players maybe I’ll consider it, but for the most part I kind of just want to focus on NMAT.”
