LA GRANDE — An Eastern Oregon University women’s soccer player is fulfilling a lifelong dream to represent her country’s national team.

Kiara Fontanilla, a goalkeeper who has spent the last two seasons with the Mountaineers, was selected to compete for this year’s Philippines Women’s National Team at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India. The appearance for the national team has not only been a lifelong goal for Fontanilla, but the experience also opened the door for her extended family in the Philippines to reconnect.

“I definitely didn’t see it coming because I’ve had a hard soccer career,” Fontanilla said. “For this to happen was definitely a sigh of relief. Everything I’ve worked for is now paying off.”

Fontanilla has been a solid contributor defending the net for the Mountaineers over the last two years, in addition to her experience with Division I Cal State-Fullerton and Division II Northwest Oklahoma State University. The goalkeeper will look to help the Philippines Women’s National Team place well enough at the tournament to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in the country’s history.

Family roots

Fontanilla has struggled with injuries in her playing time, as well as battled mental obstacles during her playing career. An even larger obstacle may have been the task of acquiring eligibility to play for the Philippines and help her father reconnect with his family in his home country.

Fontanilla’s father, Francisco Fontanilla, was born and raised in the Philippines, but has spent the last 40 years in the United States unable to return home after complications related to his immigration years ago. Both Fontanilla and her father went through a grueling process of acquiring the proper paperwork to become dual citizens of the Philippines, which allowed her to compete for the national team and for her father to visit his family.

“That honestly really pushed me to be on the team,” Fontanilla said. “My main goal is so that my dad can go home and see his family.”

The chance to travel to India for the Women’s Asian Cup will allow Fontanilla’s father to reconnect with family and return to his childhood home. Through competing with the team in India, Fontanilla and her dad will have the chance to return to the Philippines and visit family. For the 21-year-old goalkeeper, the reunion will mark the first time she has physically met much of her father’s extended family.

“It’s really cool to see him so excited to talk about his childhood, because usually he’s really reserved about that,” Fontanilla said. “For him to share that with me was really cool.”

Earning her spot

In her time at Eastern, Fontanilla recorded a 5-1-1 record in seven career starts over two seasons. In the 2020 spring season, she went 5-0-1 and recorded five shutouts along with 19 saves. Last fall, Fontanilla appeared in five games for the Mountaineers and recorded four saves along with a 2.38 goals allowed average.

Even with a strong resume, Fontanilla found herself competing for roster spots against the top players of the Philippines. After traveling to California for training on Tuesday, Nov. 9, Fontanilla joined roughly 100 other players seeking a spot on the national team. The ensuing two months of training consisted of gradual roster cuts that left the players constantly on edge. After the roster was trimmed down to about 30 players, Fontanilla found out from her coaches on Jan. 4 that she would be a part of the team traveling to India.

“I was super excited,” Fontanilla said. “It was super nerve-wracking because I knew there was only going to be three goalkeepers that could go, but there were six of us at that point.”

Fontanilla was one of six first-year players on the national team, earning a coveted spot behind the team’s anchor in goal, Inna Palacios. However, some younger players did not get to experience the same thrill of making the team. Fontanilla noted that seeing players get cut after months of training together and building bonds was a difficult process. For one 18-year-old goalkeeper who did not make the cut, Fontanilla looked to provide guidance and motivation in a difficult time.

“I really wanted someone like that there for me when I was going through hardships earlier in my career, but I only had maybe one person there for me,” she said. “I definitely wanted to be a part of that process in a positive way for the younger players who didn’t make it.”

Learning curve

With experience in Division I soccer and a successful Eastern Oregon program, Fontanilla is used to playing in high-intensity environments. However, the step up to international level training was a significant adjustment for the goalkeeper in her first stint with the national team.

“It was definitely a big jump from EOU to here,” Fontanilla said. “EOU is high level and the training is really intense, but the training (for the national team) definitely was super high intensity.”

Fontanilla noted that her coaches with the Philippines National Team focused on a change of pace when it came to working on her goalkeeping skills ahead of the Women’s Asian Cup.

“It’s really hyper focused on technique. It’s not about quantity, it’s all about quality,” she said. “For me, that was a big change from how I’ve trained growing up. Being able to really focus on that has helped me as a player.”

Fontanilla stated that the change from going as fast as she could in drills to slowing down and focusing on accuracy was an adjustment. She said that it took several weeks to acclimate to the new coaching style, but that she feels she has improved noticeably as a player.

At the conclusion of training, the Philippines Women’s National Team flew to India on Jan. 12. In an unfortunate turn of events, Fontanilla tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after receiving word that she was selected for the team. Despite concern that she would be unable to compete, Fontanilla was scheduled to fly out and join the team on Jan. 18.

Fontanilla is crossing her fingers that no other hiccups occur along that way and that she can arrive safely in India in time to compete in the team’s first game against Thailand on Jan. 21.

“It’s definitely a process,” Fontanilla said of facing yet another obstacle in her soccer career. “If I can’t go, I can’t go. It’s God’s plan. Thankfully all the coaches and trainers have been checking in on me and making sure I’m alright. I feel fine.”

Shooting for the Cup

Fontanilla will have a quick turnaround before joining the group stage of the Women’s Asian Cup. The Philippines come into the qualifiers ranked No. 64 in FIFA’s women’s national team rankings.

The national team is slated in Group B of the Women’s Asian Cup alongside Thailand, Australia and Indonesia. Two teams from all six groups advance to the knockout rounds, in addition to the two next best third-place teams. Overall, five teams from the Asian Cup qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is set to take place in Australia and New Zealand.

Fontanilla and the Philippines Women’s National Team will be looking to make history and improve upon the country’s best finish at the tournament, which came in 2018 when the team took sixth place. The Philippines earned a spot in the Asian Cup group stage based on qualification matches played in September and October of 2021. With an experienced group and a manageable group stage, the Philippines could be in for a run at its first ever World Cup berth in Fontanilla’s first stint with the team.

“I would love to have our team do the best we can. I really believe that we can make the World Cup, especially with the team we have right now. We’re super solid and have a lot of veterans coming back.”

Fontanilla noted that matches against Thailand and Indonesia are both winnable games, but that Australia will be the toughest opponent. The Australians have made the FIFA World Cup quarterfinals in 2007, 2011 and 2015 and are anchored by captain Samantha Kerr. Fontanilla joked with teammates about idolizing the Chelsea F.C. star, who has led the Australian team to a No. 11 overall FIFA ranking. Thailand enters the tournament ranked No. 38 and Indonesia is slated at No. 94.

While the match against Australia may be a long shot, the Philippines have a tactical advantage on the team’s side. Head Coach Alen Stajcic is a former Australian soccer player who managed the Australian women’s team for five years.

Fontanilla stressed that the team will need to be at its best to secure wins over Thailand and Indonesia to advance to the knockout stage.

“Winning those two games is definitely the goal,” she said. “If I get to be a part of that World Cup team, that would be such an honor.”

Future plans

Following the Philippines’ quest for a World Cup berth, Fontanilla expects to return to La Grande with a heightened skillset and new perspective.

Although she still has two years of eligibility remaining, her time as a player for the Mountaineers may have already come to an end. The program is recruiting heavily at the goalkeeper position to fill the gaps for next fall and Fontanilla only has one class left to take in the fall.

Fontanilla questioned if she should return or not, but ultimately felt the need to go back in order to stay in shape and give back to her team. The goalkeeper plans to train with the team in the spring and serve as a voluntary coach in the next fall season.

“My goal is to be a coach in the future,” Fontanilla said. “I feel like I can really help the team with what I’ve learned.”

Fontanilla stated that she sees her added perspective from training with the Philippines team as an asset to her coaching abilities.

“It’ll be cool being on that side of the spectrum being on the coaching side of things,” she said. “I feel like I’ll be able to help them bring our team to the national finals. I know that was definitely one of our goals this past year and it was heartbreaking not to get there. I know the younger players took that hard and it motivated them for next year.”

Before she starts her career as a coach or decides to potentially pursue a professional playing career, Fontanilla will be focused on helping the Philippines earn its first trip to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

On top of any potential individual or team achievements, Fontanilla has already won by making her dad proud and helping reunite him with family in the Philippines.

“He put all that work into making me the player I am today, so this is a big thank you to him,” Fontanilla said. “I definitely have Filipino pride with my dad and in bringing that honor to our family.”