AFTER waiting for over a decade for the call to national team duty she thought might never come, Fil-Am defender Jaime Turrentine felt a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes as she stepped out on the SM MOA Sky pitch wearing the Filipinas jersey for the first time last week.
“Honestly, walking up to the pitch, there were tears in my eyes. Just seeing all the fans and being with the girls who have been with the team for so long, some of whom I knew from camp in 2013. It really is a feeling I can’t put into words,” Turrentine said after the friendly game at the newly-opened field on the rooftop of one of the country’s biggest malls.
“Definitely, this was special,” added the native of San Leonardo, California, who played for the Blue squad for the entire match, showing glimpses of her defensive skills in a game that ended in a 1-all draw against the White side made up mostly of 2023 Women’s World Cup veterans.
In her stint on the field and playing on the left wing, she reminded one of the male version of the PH men’s squad’s speedy and crafty diminutive defender, Daisuke Sato.
Now a third-year stalwart with Portuguese Second Division club Vitória Sport, Turrentine, 30, is a friend of the McDaniel siblings, goalie Olivia and Chandler, who were with her in the first camp they attended in Corona, California, in 2013, and top striker Sarina Bolden.
The former St. Mary’s College Athletics varsity high school mainstay also attended the second camp with them in 2014, but that was the last time she was heard of and in touch with the local football officials, but never gave up on her national team aspirations.
She was taken by surprise when, from out of the blue, Australian Filipinas head coach Mark Torcaso made the call a month ago in the early morning in Guimaraes, Portugal, where the club is based.
“I was just in shock because, after all these years, I was given the chance to come back and given the chance to play for the national team. I just kept saying thank you (to Torcaso) for not forgetting about me,” Turrentine recalled.
“I just felt humbled and grateful that they would call me. Again, it is a feeling I can’t put into words,” she added. “I believe things happen for a reason. Things happen when they are supposed to happen. I think I’ve learned that throughout my (football) journey to be patient.”
She enjoyed her experience in the weeklong camp not only with the McDaniels and Bolden but with the rest of the Filipinas hopefuls, noting that “the coaches prepared very well and the girls were amazing. They made the difference. We all supported each other and we put in in a lot of work.”
At the post-match press conference, Torcaso justified recruiting Turrentine, saying: “I have tracked her for some time. She is a very important player for something that we want for the future.
“Jaime is going to be an excellent inclusion in the future and she constantly proves herself as we go on.”
Turrentine was keen on repaying the Aussie’s tactician faith in her, hoping that she and the rest of squad would go all the way once again to the FIFA Women’s World Cup that will be held in Brazil in 2027.
“Definitely that (being in World Cup) would be a dream come true,” said the defender, whose never-give-up attitude is finally paying off.
