“It all started with a dream and willingness to work towards that dream, which helped me get to where I am now.” These were the inspiring words from Camille Rodriguez during another Champion online session, with some selected girl players from Fundlife, which happened on December 12, 2020.
Cam, as she is known, is a striker for the Philippine Women’s National Football Team. During the session, Cam introduced herself to the girls and even inspired them with her journey and that becoming part of the national team wasn’t an easy goal she had to achieve. There were so many expectations from her even when she was still a college student. Cam listened as the girls also introduced themselves and shared how many years they’ve played football after sharing her football story to them. After the short introductions, they started asking questions to Cam.
One of the girls asked the three words that best describe Cam, and this is her response: brave, understanding, and a team player. But the twist came when Camille also asked the girls how they described themselves. She expressed that she’s grateful because she was able to know them on a personal aspect. She even told the girls that it’s not enough to feel good about scoring goals when playing football, but it’s also better if they thought of ways to improve the way they play for future games.
When asked who her idol was and whether she saw herself idolized by many today, Camille admitted that she never imagined herself being idolized for her football prowess. Her role model is her dad, who is also a football player and coach. She told the girls that parents are the number one supporters of their children and that the girls should always respect them.
One of the girls asked, “How do you handle the constructive criticisms you get when playing football?” Cam replied, “Being an athlete means you also have to respond to objective criticisms not on a subjective level. You have to assess the situation and think of a way or solution that would best benefit you and your team.”
She further said that to be a good athlete means you’re doing something right and you want to become better and better as a person. But you can’t do it alone, so you also have to learn from other people like your teammates and your coach.
The Q&A went on for about an hour, and it was a fun virtual meet and greet for both sides. The last topic the girls agreed on talking about was their personal goals they want to achieve in the next five years. Some said they wanted to continue playing football and be better at it.
The girls are thankful to Cam for sharing her inspiring life story with them, especially the learnings that they could get from her. They even talked about non-football related stuff and have promised to keep in touch on social media.
The session ended with Cam giving her words of encouragement for the girls: “The goal is to do better and be better. Gaining or receiving awards isn’t really the goal; don’t chase after them. Just chase after your dreams and passion because these awards are only bonuses along the way.”