How Claire Winter Seized ‘limited’ Opportunities in Women’s Professional Soccer

One of the most famous sports that people love to watch is soccer. However, ladies who play it well, are oftentimes left out not having their skills and potential noticed in a fast-paced game wherein men pretty much dominate.

Claire Winter is not spared from this even though she was one of the star players at the Women’s Soccer Team of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where they were awarded 2013 NCAA Champions during her freshmen year and 2017 NCAA Runner-Up during her reign as Co-Captain.

She admitted during the 29th episode of The Globally Ballin Podcast that opportunities for women’s professional soccer are not promoted enough unlike with the men’s division; that’s why agents are vital if a female athlete wants to pursue playing the sport professionally.

“There are so many talented women soccer players that don’t get opportunities because of the limited teams, [as compared to] the men’s,” she said.

She added that it was only during winning games in the World Cup where the women’s team reached its peak but that lasted for only a few months.

“I think that’s the problem we need to fix – we have to keep it in the upward momentum.”

Claire emphasized the importance of agents because, after her successful stint at UCLA, she wasn’t drafted in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) but still ended up playing at Tovo Academy in Barcelona, Spain.

“While I was in Spain, I had no agent and got taken advantage of especially I don’t speak Spanish...so I suggest you get an agent based on [the] country [you want to play in] that has connections.”

Earlier in 2019, UCLA Assistant Coach Jenny Bindon gave Claire a breakthrough email saying that a club in Puerto Rico is looking for new players.

With her burning passion for soccer, she jumped right into it and eventually made it in Puerto Rico Sol Football Club based in Mayaguez where she played as a midfielder.

“I started off the season [and during] my first game, I scored a hat-trick [which] was probably my first hat-trick since around high school,” she told Globally Ballin.

In any sport, Claire said that it’s important to know someone who has an opportunity or at least ask someone about it because it’s hard to find those opportunities on your own.

“The only reason I’m here is because of my assistant coach from UCLA and I made the call.”

“Being your own advocate, being proactive, and if this is what you really wanted to do, there’s no one stopping you – you just have to find the right opportunity,” she added.

Despite having a successful soccer journey in Puerto Rico, Claire’s end-goal is still to play in the NWSL as it is the toughest league for her in terms of competition where they have top teams from every country with which to play against.

This piece was written by Carla Molina, a common contributor for Globally Ballin

From Favorite Movie to National Icon: Kayla Franchesca’s Story

Who would think that watching films could be your stepping stone into being an icon for your nation?

Kayla Franchesca proves that everything is possible as long as you have the heart and dedication in what you’re doing.

Kayla is a 25-year-old semi-professional left-wing ice hockey player based in Australia playing in the

Sydney Women’s League and was included in the New South Wales Bombers.

She was awarded “Best Player Overall” for Team Philippines in the 2019 International Ice Hockey

Federation Women’s Challenge Cup where they won gold.

As a tropical country, ice hockey is foreign in the Philippines. In the midst of this, Kayla has been one of the pioneers of the women’s national team as the sport gradually becomes more and more well-known within the boarders of the Philippines.

“It has developed really well and I’m hoping it gets even bigger and that’s where we’re working

towards,” she stated in the 29th episode of The Globally Ballin Podcast.

Her interest sparked after watching “The Mighty Ducks,” an American sports comedy-drama film about a youth league hockey team where she was fascinated with the character Connie Moreau.

She immediately started to learn ice skating, then her uncle who came from Vancouver, initially trained her on everything related to ice hockey that he could.

At age 16, Kayla debuted in playing competitive hockey under the men’s category of Manila Ice Hockey League, the country’s first-ever league which was held in a skating rink inside SM Mall of Asia – one of the largest malls in the Philippines.

Going to Australia was initially just for work purposes and staying for good was not Kayla’s initial plan until she realized how good hockey was there and how this could have a future effect in her home country.

“It’s really developed hockey – I’ve met a lot of coaches, good players, and it’s really helping my skills,” she said in the episode with Globally Ballin.

“We learn a lot of skills definitely open for sharing...and it’s good because at the same time, we get to

contribute what we learn overseas over to the Philippines,” she added.

The future of ice hockey in the Philippines is looking good in her eyes and she is positive that it will,

eventually, be recognized as a professional sport.

“We have to keep women in playing the sport. It’s going to take a while but is not impossible especially with the [Philippine] government helping them.

The Philippine Ice Hockey Federation, together with the government, leads a weekend event called

“Stick and Puck,” wherein they offer lower cost of gear and equipment to engage more people in playing the sport.

Kayla recently founded The Athletes Podium, a community and platform for athletes to share stories and inspire others. She was supposed to come to the Philippines for the Women’s Challenge Cup of Asia last February but was postponed due to the recent COVID-19