MANILA, Philippines – Meet Jaie Desiree Juan, the 21-year-old goalkeeper for Team Palawan who recently competed in the AIA Vitality Women’s Kampeon Cup.
In the six-team field, Palawan finished fourth as they took a narrow 2-1 loss to Cebu.
In the knockout stages, Juan took special notice along with fellow net minder Bim Capuno of Team Pampanga for their incredible saves and fighting heart.
Capuno took an inadvertent kick to the face during a scrum outside the Pampanga box, and her face immediately swelled. She finished her goalkeeping duties and kept a clean sheet for the first half of play against Muntinlupa. By the time she returned, her squad was down, 2-0.
Juan, on the other hand, also drew attention for not wearing goalkeeping gloves throughout the entire tournament; her team played four matches.
“First time ko kasi maglaro ng football sa field,” confessed Juan. “Futsal player ako at hindi ako sanay.”
Like Capuno, Juan also took a knee to the neck during a challenge for the ball. The ensuing collision knocked her flat and out of the match she had to be brought out with her neck in a brace.
First time ko makaranas ng ganito at natakot ako,” she divulged of the injury. Her team was bundled out the semifinals by eventual champions Bonifacio Global City.
And yet, she returned to the battle for third place because, “kailangan ako ng team ko,” she said.
In obvious pain despite being cleared to play, Juan stopped shot after shot. In fact, over the knockout rounds, she unofficially chalked up 36 saves. She was wincing from the pain in her neck and her hands as she stopped power shots from opponents such as BGC’s Joyce Semacio, Maegan Alforque or Cebu’s Mailyn Lozano and Jospher Halili.
When informed of that statistic, she simply said, “Maganda yun pero mas maganda kung nakuha namin ang third place.”
Nevertheless, Juan is grateful for the experience.
“Marami kami matututunan sa experience na ito,” she summed up. “Napakaganda mabigyan ang mga kababaihan ng oportunidad na ganito. Mag-train pa kami to get better at sana makabalik kami ulit.”
When she returns to Palawan, Juan said that she will be preparing for the upcoming school year at Palawan State University.