It’s a bond she shares with her father.
Most probably, you have been in conversations that are littered with phrases like “since the pandemic” or “before COVID” and the like. The pandemic, like it or not, is living on to be a timestamp for many people when recalling life's moments.
For Filipinas defender Malea Cesar, COVID-19 became a turning point in her love for football. Prior to the spread of the coronavirus, Cesar wanted to walk away from the beautiful game due to “poor coaches and teammates.”
The halt brought by COVID, however, allowed her to go at her own pace and have a better appreciation of the sport.
"First, it was being able to go out and go for runs on my own without having to have expectations for track or soccer, so just being able to go exercise on my own again and feel good about that," the 19-year-old athlete told Optus Sport.
Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder. In this case, it’s for football.
“Once the high school season came around and we didn't have it, realizing how much I did enjoy being out there, and how much I wanted to continue to have that to be part of my life,” she added.
That rekindled love allowed her to show up in the California tryouts that coach Alen Stajcic hosted. She got in the national team, and in the process, she is also able to honor her Filipino father, who used to don the Philippine flag in athletics.
"It means a lot. I grew up with my dad, he represented the Philippines' track and field team and so I always knew that was something that I could do but I never really knew that it could be playing soccer,” the footballer said.
“So to be able to follow in his footsteps is amazing, but to be able to do it in a sport I love is also a really big honor.”
Through football, Cesar has created a better moment to stamp in time—and it’s one that she shares with her dad no less.
"I know it means a lot to him too, especially when we played in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May because that was the competition that he got to compete in. And honestly, that was a really special moment for me, hearing the anthem play at the first game was really emotional."