Tuloy FC’s Bandoja vows to work hard to earn Filipinas spot

MANILA, Philippines – With a Filipinas roster spot within her reach, football player Isabella Bandoja vowed to work harder.

Bandoja, who was called up to the Filipinas training camp earlier this year, said she is happy to be in such an elite company.

The Tuloy Football Club stalwart said that she missed the cut her last two times, and she is eyeing to make the roster soon.

“Me, personally, I am very happy because the past two times I was called up, I was not able to make the roster,” Bandoja told reporters in Filipino.

“Since I was called up again, I am very happy. I will do my best to make the roster,” she added.

Bandoja is one of the promising women’s football players in the country.

She won her third Golden Boot award in the Philippine Football Federation Women’s League this year, as she tallied 19 goals in the 2023 season.

“I would like to work on my fitness more, and of course, my skills. I have more to improve on to join the team,” the forward said.

Bandoja is among the children taken in by the Tuloy Foundation, which houses abandoned and poor children.

When she started to play football back in 2014, Tuloy did not have a girls’ team yet. But, when the opportunity arose, she grabbed it.

Fast forward to almost a decade later, she is having one hell of a career.

Aside from the accolades in football, she also played for the Philippine Women’s Futsal team that finished second in the PFF Women’s Tri Nations Futsal Invitational.

And as she continues to strive harder and improve, the possibilities are endless.

The football player also called on girls who want to take up football to do so.

“For me, they should really do what they want. Do not be afraid to try it, if it is what they want,” Bandoja said.

“Nothing will be lost if they try. Who knows, if they try, maybe they will go places,” she added.