Meet Ella: A 'pulot girl' turned tennis champion

Not too long ago, Ella was picking up tennis balls as a “pulot girl,” happy to earn some cash so she has something to bring home to her parents. A then 11-year-old Ella would earn some P40 per hour for her “side job,” a huge help for an underprivileged family like theirs.

Fast forward to five years, today at 16, Ella is one of the most talented tennis players in Isabela, her hometown. Tomorrow, she competes for her initial lawn tennis match at the 58th Palarong Pambansa in Tagum City, Davao.

It was fascinating to meet Ella (Mikaela Joy L. Javier) earlier today and talk to her about how she got so good in a sports she hardly knew about. Nothing is impossible in this world, I know, but Ella’s journey from “pulot girl” to gunning-for-gold tennis player in a national youth competition is nothing short of astounding.

“Doon po ako kumukuha ng pambaon ko sa school,” Ella said. On a good day, she’d be able to take home some P300. For a family whose main source of income is his dad’s job as a truck driver and her mom a housekeeper, this is a blessing.

I haven’t seen Ella play, but I don’t doubt her skills. The first time she joined the Palarong Pambansa two years ago, she didn’t win any medals. Last year, she placed fourth. This time, the last time she is qualified to join (as she has just graduated from high school last March), I feel she’d give it her all (though the shy kid wouldn’t say it out loud, out of modesty, I think).

There’s nothing wrong with Ella’s quiet and shy demeanor, as I’m sure that’s what earned her a high school scholarship from the Magsaysay National High School. But I do hope she eats an extra slice of Confidence Pie so she could claim that gold I feel she deserved.

As we chatted, I sense Ella hasn’t fully realized the triumph she has already achieved, and how many people she has inspired. I feel she’s stuck at the“let me win this so I can take home the cash prize to my parents” mindset. I hope I’m wrong. I wish her the best.

“Madali namang matutong mag-tennis pag gusto mo talaga,” she said. Asked who her tennis player idol was, she said it was international tennis star Maria Sharapova. An excellence choice, I’d say!

She still goes back to picking up tennis balls as a “pulot girl” when she’s in Isabela. But that might soon change. After all, because she is a Palarong Pambansa athlete, at least three colleges are wooing her with an offer of full scholarship (two of which are in Manila).

“Hindi ko pa po alam kung san ako mag-ka-college. Parang ayaw po ng mga magulang ko na sa Manila ako mag-aral kasi hindi daw nila ako mababantayan doon,” said Ella. She wants to take up education and become a teacher.

When she’s not busy playing tennis, she spends time teaching tennis to other kids her age at her hometown (in Alicia, Isabela). I don’t know him, but I’d like to give a huge thank you to Ed Diongson, that kind-hearted individual who first gave Ella a break when he noticed her picking up balls and asked her: “Would you like to play tennis, Ella?”

I hope Ella becomes as successful a tennis player as her dreams would take her so she could ask that same pivotal question to the young aspiring tennis players like herself, who looked like they’d never be able to own a tennis racket in their lifetime but now are some of the country’s best youth athletes.

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