FIRST FIFA World Cup game. First goal scored. And tantalizingly, first win in the FIFA World Cup.
Last 25th July in Wellington, for three glorious hours, it seemed that the Filipinas, the Philippine National Football Women’s Team could do no wrong, making history, one record after another.
And yet, there was another Filipino group also making history, probably the most supportive, the most colorful of supporters among the non-FIFA powerhouse fans (almost always outside Europe , South America and perennial contender USA), this group gave not only the Filipinas but the entire Wellington Regional Stadium (also known as the Sky Stadium) an instant, recurring adrenalin jolt that lasted, win or lose, goal or none, for 90 minutes that ended with the first (yet another record) win by a debuting FIFA World Cup nation, in a game that lasted less than two hours but packed with memories that will undoubtedly last a lifetime.
Not the least among these memories was generated by that same group mentioned above, organized only a week before by Filipina-Kiwi Didith Tayawa-Figuracion, Pinay entrepreneur, civil servant, volunteer in numerous capacities and patriotic Filipina, who made sure everyone noticed our kabayan, dressed in Ati-atihan costumes, complete with drums, cymbals and all sorts of noise-making instruments, to raise the roof, heighten the excitement, and even the odds of fighting probably the strongest-supported team in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Football Ferns of New Zealand the hosts.
Starting with a walk from the waterfront, the Wellington Pinoy community ended up at the stadium, created noise that revved up the Philippines-New Zealand audience, gained admiration from the players and fans, and created exactly what they were there to do: help the national team score an improbable upset and win their first FIFA World Cup victory.
Giving the floor now to the Woman of the Hour, Wellington Pinoy community organizer Didith, granting us answers to a few of our questions:
Why did you and your group feel that you should support the FIFA Philippine women’s football team in the way that you did?
Early on, I only planned to watch the game between NZ and FILIPINAS, the Phillippine team. So I bought three tickets for me and my family early this year. But when I became part of the Community Engagement Programme of FIFA as a Cultural Champion, I started researching about the Philippine team. It was when I learned that this is a very historic game, the first time ever that the Philippines has reached the FIFA World Cup level. I said to myself, I should do something more to attract interest from the Filipino community in Wellington that didn’t have much exposure to football as a national sports. I thought about the Rugby World Cup 2011 where our group, the Filipino Artists in New Zealand, did the Ati-atihan Festival in the Fanzone, in front of Sky Stadium and the Wellington’s Waterfront. I thought we could do it again to support the Philippine team.
Did you always have the marchers, dancers and costumes to do similar activities, in the past?
Fortunately, the big costumes used during the 2011 Rugby World Cup presentations were stored by Ate Billie Carani-Searle at her house. My friends She and Lev Kavinta and my husband Clark were the drummers then. I still have my friends who are active in the Filipino community, other key individuals that I could always depend upon including my sister Miriam Tayawa Villalba. There were also those who used to be part of the performances. I knew that if I will contact them about the idea, they would join and help make it happen. I did and they all said yes. That was the start.
What was the evolution of your preparation, and what turned out to be the highlight/s?
I also discussed the idea with the new Philippine Ambassador to NZ, Her Excellency Amb. Kira Azucena, to make sure I’m not duplicating what they are doing or intending to do. The Philippine Embassy was supportive of the idea.
I then contacted Wellington City Council to ask permission if we can do the street dancing from Shed 6 to the Sky Stadium before announcing something to the public. When they said, yes, I had made the public announcement.
Someone suggested creating an FB event page so they can share it to the public. That was my vehicle for reaching out to the wider community and gain interest to attending the game and supporting the Philippine team. This post may have gained interest from the press such that the Philippine Embassy was contacted for my details as they were interested in doing a story and photoshoot on community support to their national teams. We landed on the front page of the Dominion Post. This gained more media mileage and more interest from the Filipino community. I started with a group booking of 20 people, then that increased to 40 and nearer the game day, I had almost 200 people in my group booking. I was happy with 20-50 people attending the parade. I think the number swelled to hundreds. Then we were interviewed by the morning TVNZ show, Breakfast on game day. That has further increased the interest from our Filipino community. There were other media interviews from local and international media outfits. And there were more ticket requests. Then tickets were sold out. I knew then that our reach was far and wide when I had been contacted for tickets from as far as Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerton North, Wanganui.
How did you know that you had made a difference with your presence and preparation?
At the end of the game, the relatives of the players has asked us, actually pleading, for us to come to Auckland to support the Filipinas at their game between Norway on Sunday.
Unfortunately, we can’t as it would be logistically difficult to do this. Fortunately, we were advised that another community group in Auckland will do an Ati-atihan as well.
I feel that the Ati-atihan street dancing, cheering and drumming has helped in creating a different kind of vibe outside and inside the Sky Stadium. The Filipino community were small in numbers inside the Stadium but our cheering were heard. Even Coach Alen Statjcic mentioned in his interview post game that they felt the community support. The parents and relatives of the players wore costumes and joined the parade as well. Someone originally from Aklan contacted me as well wanting to join the parade. She was very proud that her town and the Ati-atihan street dancing is being showcased at this momentous event.
Mabuhay ka Didith! everyone in Auckland, please attend the Philippines-Norway game Sunday tomorrow!
