Between Two Worlds

In the shadows of a basketball-crazed nation, the Philippines women's national football team have achieved sporting history in the nation: qualifying for the country's first-ever men's or women's FIFA World Cup. In this final episode, we learn from national team members Reina Bonta, Tahnai Annis, and Chandler McDaniel on how they each found connection to their Filipino heritage through football. And, how the team has embodied the Filipino tradition of finding family wherever you go.

In this episode, Megan delves deeper into the Filipino-American experience, speaking to Fil-Am people in and around soccer and pulling on threads to unravel if and how others found connection to their heritage growing up.

We hear from Bianca Verar, brand marketing manager at Houston Dash (NWSL), Alex Monis, professional soccer player at Chicago Fire (MLS), Camille Wilson, former Philippines women's national team midfielder, and Lisa Bonta-Sumii, licensed clinical social worker, mental health therapist, and mental sport performance coach at Oakland Roots SC (USL Championship).

FC Barcelona had a Messi before there was even a Messi. In this episode, Megan tells the story of Paulino Alcantara, a Spanish-Filipino footballer born in 1896 and a forefather of Barça football. We learn about the reach and impact of women's football in the Philippines from women's national team media member Venice Furio. And, Dr. Patricio Abinales, professor at the University of Hawaii–Manoa's School for Pacific and Asian Studies, provides an engaging history lesson into America's regime over the Philippines, its impact on sport in the nation, and how private sectors influenced the government's decision to expand citizenship, ultimately laying the groundwork for Filipino heritage players to join the national teams.

Growing up a first-generation Filipino-American, Megan Reyes struggled figuring out where she belonged and unpacking the question of "Who am I?" Part memoir, part history lesson, in this episode Megan introduces her upbringing and sets us up for the journey of the Fil-Am experience through the Philippines' best kept secret: the Philippines women's national football team.