A FILIPINA volleyball player in the Olympics?
In an interview with Anton Roxas of Volleyball DNA, Jaja Santiago talked about her dream of playing in the Olympics and a chance to pursue it with with a foreign squad. But given a choice, she would like to achieve that with a Philippine team.
The Filipina volleyball star, who just last week helped Ageo Medics claim the V Cup title in Japan, bared Japanese officials have been urging her to stay longer in their league and even offered help her gain Japanese citizenship.
That would make Santiago, who has been playing in Japan for three years, eligible to play in the country as a local - and a possible shot at making an Olympic team.
“Kalagitnaan pa lang ng liga kinakausap na nila ako na sana mag-stay pa ako ng maraming taon. Gusto nilang palitan ’yung nationality ko, actually,” Santiago said. “Gusto nila akong mag-stay pa doon, tapos gusto nila akong tulungang palitan yung nationality ko.”
“Well, may dream akong maglaro ng Olympics, pero gusto ko munang … syempre may pride pa rin naman ako, Pilipino pa rin naman ako di ba? Gusto kong tulungan ‘yung bansa natin. Doon sa goal ko na ’yun, gusto ko kasama ko yung mga kapwa Pilipino ko.
“Kung wala talagang chance, why not? It’s on the back of my mind na pwede,” said Santiago.
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