With her basketball skills, calm demeanor and winning smile, Ella Fajardo captivated the hearts of the Filipinos and had quickly became one of the most popular figures for Gilas Pilipinas Women squad.
The love and adoration being showered for her were further reinforced when she powered Gilas to a silver medal in the women’s basketball event of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia last month.
But the 20-year-old playmaker quickly shot down the claims that she is fast becoming the face of women’s basketball in the country.
“I don’t think so,” Fajardo said in an interview with Daily Tribune during the national squad’s preparation for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.
“Even if people claim that there is a face or a poster girl whatever, I wouldn’t be here if not for the generations before me. We’re all in it together and I don’t think that there’s a face or anything.”
Fame doesn’t overwhelm Fajardo from doing what she loves best, which is playing basketball for the country, even though she had already become a hot commodity on social media with fans lining up just to take photos with her.
Everywhere Fajardo goes, people follow.
But for Fajardo, it’s a testament of how big women’s basketball in the country had already gotten.
“Now, people are starting to notice women’s basketball,” Fajardo said.
“That’s what I represent and, at the same time, my strength and faith in God. He put me somewhere where a lot of people would be supportive, even my family. Women’s basketball is now starting to gain attention and it’s like climbing the ladder. The Lord is really buzzing this team and guiding the coaches.”
Fajardo came from a family with a rich basketball tradition.
Her dad, Allan Fajardo, was part of the great University of Santo Tomas squad that won four straight University Athletic Association of the Philippines titles from 1993 to 1996 while her sister, Ava, plays for Gilas Women U16 squad.
“My dad played for UST back when they had a four-peat. He knows his basketball and basically taught me everything I know,” Fajardo said.
“Actually, not everything, but each time I do something good, he would always say ‘I taught you that.’”
She said her dad sharpened her mental toughness.
“I think my mental approach comes from him, too — how to think during the games, how to approach things. He’s always there, everywhere I’ve been to, he’s always there, including the last one in Cambodia. Even in my home games in the States, he’s always there.”
Fajardo started representing the country in the U18 division of the 2019 FIBA Asia Cup before helping Gilas Pilipinas reach the quarterfinals of the U18 World Cup in Mongolia.
Last year, she joined the seniors team and became a crucial part in its conquest in the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam.
Unfortunately for her, she fell short in her SEA Games campaign this year as Gilas bowed to Indonesia in the preliminaries to settle for a silver medal.
Still, Fajardo sees the setback as an opportunity.
“The standard now is gold, especially since the team was fresh from back-to-back SEA Games gold medals,” Fajardo said.
“But in basketball, there’s a purpose for everything. Now, we have something even better to chase and that is the FIBA Asia title.”
Fajardo, who grew up in the United States, said her international journey is quite challenging, especially since she has to adjust to the country’s basketball culture.
“It hasn’t been the easiest,” Fajardo said.
“Even transitioning from playing in the US to playing here in a lot of ways. But it has been one day at a time.”
Now Fajardo is considered among the rising stars of the Gilas women’s squad along with Camille Clarin, Khate Castillo, Stef Berberabe and new additions Louna Ozar and Jhazmine Joson.
And she is expected to dominate one smile at a time.
