A decade after she played for Canada, midfielder Jackie Sawicki became part of Alen Stajcic’s incredible run with the Philippines – and now that’s brought her to play in Australia, writes Tom Smithies.
One by one the dominoes fell for Jackie Sawicki, and now the need to answer a question deep inside her has brought the Philippines midfielder to the Liberty A-League Women on a mission for Western United.
A player who thought her senior career was essentially done will now be a key figure in United’s debut season, and then for the Philippines at the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year – and in part it’s thanks to former Matildas boss Alen Stajcic.
Canadian born and bred, to a Filipina mother and Polish father, Sawicki played a number of Under-20 games and one senior international for Canada a decade ago – but crucially that was only a friendly.
She had already declined one approach from the Philippines to switch nationality in 2017, but her name became prominent on Stajcic’s list of potential call-ups after he successfully guided the national team to qualification for the World Cup.
“There’s lots of them around the world in the (Philippine) diaspora but it’s actually one of the hardest passports in the world to get, you have to prove bloodlines,” Stajcic told KEEPUP in July. “Usually you have to do it before the age of 18, otherwise it’s nearly impossible if you’ve got one (Philippine) parent.
“So it depends on if (the player) was naturalized in the country (they live in) and had citizenship at the country they were in and things like that. It’s actually really complex, really difficult to get, like 100 times harder than getting an Australian passport.”
With her experience, Sawicki was high on that list but the circumstances were hardly auspicious – after years playing part-time in Canada, Sawicki had enjoyed professional contracts in Japan and Sweden but returned home due to a long-standing knee injury and the chaos of a global pandemic.
“So when the Philippines Football Federation reached out in February or March this year, initially I didn’t say yes straight away because I wasn’t even playing professionally at that point,” Sawicki tells KEEPUP ahead of the new season in the Liberty A-League.
“With COVID and an over-use injury in my knee I’d had to go back to Canada where there isn’t even a professional women’s league. But my partner said to me, Why wouldn’t you try it? And I think deep down inside me I had this feeling that my days playing professional football weren’t quite done. I needed to try.
“The first thing I had to do was make sure my passport was sorted, as I’m actually eligible for three different countries, and luckily the Philippines officials were able to sort the paperwork with FIFA to make me eligible.
“The team had already qualified for the World Cup but I came into the preparation camp for the South-East Asian Games, where we won bronze – it was some first campaign!”
But that was just the first part of a remarkable few months for Sawicki, who realised that she needed to change her playing environment to be fully prepared for the World Cup. The lack of professional opportunities in Canada extends as far as players of her status – having enjoyed professional contracts overseas – having to pay to play as amateurs.
Sawicki has spoken out about this in the past, but here turned her attention to where she could secure a professional move overseas in the build-up to the World Cup. She called Stajcic and asked him to put out feelers, only to discover that Western United’s first head coach, Mark Torcaso, had serendipitously called Stajcic on the hunt for players.
“I’d been working full-time while playing for the national team, but I needed a professional football environment in order to be at my best for the World Cup,” Sawicki said.
“I had to think about where would work from a football point of view, the culture, the language, the whole package really. Australia seemed to be the best fit, not least due to the timing of the league.
“I called Alen and asked him if I was up the standard, and he assured me that I was – he said he’d put a word in for me. But then, before he had a chance, Mark called him and said he was looking for a No 6 – it was perfect timing.
“Our first training camp with the Philippines national was in Australia so I was already super-comfortable with what I’d be coming into. For the past month I’ve been here and so far it’s been excellent. The girls are pumped for the first game, it’s exciting.”
