BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--Sarah Cook is not only one of the top returning players for the Bakersfield women's soccer program, she's the only active Roadrunner in any of the Bakersfield sports that competes for a national team in the offseason.
Cook is a native of Las Vegas, Nev., but is of Philippine heritage. Cook's mother is a native of the country, something that came into play when the Philippines' were looking for players to compete for their emerging program.
“The Philippines is still developing when it comes to soccer. More attention is paid to basketball, so they sent a recruiting letter out trying to attract players to the program,” Cook said. “In order to play for the national team you either have to be a citizen or have a Philippine parent (my mom was born in the Philippines). A scout for the national team was in the stands here at CSUB and met my mom. So he put two and two together and that is how they were able to find me.”
Cook was invited to a tryout camp in Fullerton, Calif., where she earned a spot in the national program. After making the team, the first step was to get dual citizenship. During this process, Cook took part in her first tournament with the program, the LA Vikings Cup in Nov. 2012. The program played against local semipro teams and came away with the victory. The process to travel abroad as part of the team took a bit of time for Cook as she started her latest adventure.
“My mom became an American citizen when she immigrated here,” Cook said. “But in order to get my dual citizenship, she had to get her Philippine citizenship back and declare my berth to the Philippine, so that allowed me to get a Philippine passport in LA. We got all of the paperwork in order and I was able to fly over in the spring of 2013. Although I missed spring practice here at CSUB, I was able to continue to go to school online.”
The first international competition in which Cook played in was the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers in Dhaka, Bangladesh in May 2013, a qualifying tournament for the 2015 World Cup. In the first game against Iran, the Philippines won 6-0. The second match was against Thailand, a 1-0 loss which prevented the team from advancing to the finals. Although Cook had to sit out the final game against Bangladesh due to sickness, the team won 4-0.
Although Cook traveled back to her homeland as a child training and playing for the national team was a different experience.
“Growing up, we traveled to the Philippines as a family every two years, but this time I was on my own without my family, representing the country and learning more about my heritage,” Cook said. “The first time we took the field, you became overwhelmed with the emotions. The Philippines is designated as a third world country and it has the rich and the poor, but when you take the field you represent all of its citizens.
Cook played for the national team a second time in Dec. 2013 when she took part in the Southeast Asian Games. The Southeast Asian Games were a preliminary tournament for the Olympics. The Philippines opened the tournament by playing the host team, Myanmar, losing 2-0. Cook and her teammates played in front of a sold out crowd of 30,000 fans. The tournament concluded with a 7-0 loss to Vietnam.
The experience of playing overseas benefited Cook with the Roadrunners as she earned second team All-Conference honors as a junior. Cook will lead Bakersfield to a WAC Tournament berth in 2014 as she concludes her collegiate career. Playing for the national team down the road continues to be on the table for Cook.
“The confidence I was able to bring to our team here came from playing against some of the best players in the world,” Cook said. “There are a few tournaments coming up for the Philippines, but my focus is on my senior year here at CSUB. I am trying to get the most out of it. I want to play hard and help get this program turned around.”
The Roadrunners begin the 2014 season this weekend with a pair of home matches. Bakersfield opens the season Friday night at 7 p.m. against Gonzaga. CSUB and the 'Zags are playing for the third time, the first since 2008 when GU defeated the 'Runners 1-0. On Sunday at 3 p.m., the Roadrunners host Eastern Washington. Bakersfield holds a 2-1-1 all-time series advantage as the teams play for the first time since the 2010 campaign.
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