Sophomore midfielder/forward Krystal de Ramos – last week's Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals against Fresno State – is a second-generation American. Her parents, Ryan and Marian de Ramos emigrated from the Philippines. She grew up in a household where here parents spoke the Philippine language of Tagalog.
 
So, when the Philippine Football Federation set up a summer soccer camp near her home east of Long Beach, Calif., during her sophomore year in high school, she was interested. Ryan de Ramos knew someone on the committee. Through that connection, Krystal de Ramos enrolled in the camp. She also went during her junior and senior high school years.

 

This year, she and Viking teammate Maxine Nagramada, a freshman defensive back also from the Los Angeles/Long Beach area – and her PSU roommate – went together. De Ramos made the Philippine national team (Nagramada wasn't able to complete her dual citizenship in time).
 
"At first, I was nervous. It felt unbelievable, not real. Then, I was so happy. I was able to make my parents proud. They came from the Philippines. They made sacrifices for me. To be able to represent the Philippines was really special and, well, I was really shocked to have made the team (with a series of impressive club wins under her belt while in high school, it might not have shocked anyone else)."
 
Viking head soccer coach Laura Schott was delighted that de Ramos got the opportunity.
 
"International experience is valuable. You can't replicate that experience, playing against experienced players, against professionals and other high-level athletes in international competition," said Schott, who is in her ninth year as Viking head coach. "You gain experience at a high level of play. You end up playing at a high level against really good players and it helps improve your game."
 
So, de Ramos spent two months this summer based in Manila, with a team that also had U.S. players from UC Santa Cruz (nickname, "Banana Slugs"…really!), University of San Francisco, Cal Poly, University of North Florida, University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Florida International University.
 
They participated in three matches, beating Singapore, but losing to Vietnam and Thailand, which played for the championship. That's not the best time of year to be in there, she said. It's the rainy season "with lots of rain or sun with a lot of humidity."
 
"I had a lot of heat problems, some of the other girls from the U.S. had dietary issues."
 
While she agreed with Schott that playing against top notch competition helped her game, she said the style of play was different from what she's encountered in the Big Sky Conference.
"Our conference is full of big, hard hitters. In the Philippines and on the other Southeast Asian teams, they're more my size (5'4"). The girls are smaller but faster," she said.
 
When she returned, Schott said de Ramos has "had a more aggressive attitude…and that fits our expectations. We see her as aggressive attacking player. She has a high potential to assist and to score."

 
Perhaps even more eye opening than playing with some top-notch competition, though, were the cultural differences de Ramos encountered.
 
She'd been to the Philippines once before with her parents when she was much younger. This time, de Ramos saw it through different eyes.
 
"I had a big culture shock. I realized very quickly that it isn't a paradise. I learned so much. It really made me appreciate what I have here. There's so much I've taken for granted," she said.
 
The atmosphere wasn't up to American standards.
 
"The teams there definitely struggle. They don't have the support or finances we have. The place they housed us wasn't that clean. But, we were representing the country and for the experience to be complete we needed to live the same as the native players. We were here to make sacrifices."
 
Most of de Ramos' Philippine teammates were from the provinces, she said. "It was an eye opener to see how simply they lived and how humble they were. I wanted to help make them better, to help make a better environment for them to represent their country."
 
As part of the experience, de Ramos said she had to learn the Philippine national anthem.
 
"It was very emotional. Before each match, we'd stand side by side with the other girls, facing the flag and sing the national anthem. I wanted to do really well for the Philippines," she said.
 
It was an experience she won't soon forget…and one she'd like to replicate.
 
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity, getting to know about my family's inheritance, getting to know the other players…and getting to know more about myself," said de Ramos.