MIAMI (June 14, 2016) -- When the FIU women's soccer program reconvenes in August to get ready for the 2016 fall season, there might not be a better of selection of "what I did last summer" stories than from rising senior defender Pat Tomanon (Davie, Florida / Western HS).

Tomanon arrived in the Philippines Tuesday to attend a tryout camp with that nation's women's soccer team. The camp, which will go through Wednesday, will allow the team to select the 22 best women to play for the team in the upcoming ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Football Federation Women's Championship, which will be held July 26-August 4 in Myanmar.

Tomanon played in 17 games for the Panthers last season, making a pair of starts in the defensive end for FIU. She has appeared in 24 total games in her three-year career.

Born in the Philippines, Tomanon and her family moved to the United States when she was 10 years old. She had not been back to the Philippines until the summer of 2015, when she and her mother visited family and toured the country.

"A lot of things had changed, but the landmarks I remember were the same," she said.

She was contacted to attend the camp through social media. One team official reached out on twitter and another contacted her mother on Facebook. That led to an ID camp last November in California.

"After the season ended, I went to California and we worked out for some team officials and coaches. I got a real sense of how it was run like a family and I felt comfortable right away," Tomanon noted.

She met a lot of the other girls in California, several of whom play collegiate soccer on the West Coast. They remained in contact during the spring.

From there, she got the invite to attend the official tryout camp this week. She had to foot the bill for travel to San Francisco, but the Philippines took it from there.

What did she do this spring to prepare? The team sent her a pair of formations they will run (and ran in the ID camp) and gave her a few notes of where to improve her game after the November camp. She said it was her focus in improving her game this spring at FIU.

"They liked my speed and ability to play multiple positions on the field, but they told me I need to win more 50-50 balls in the back and I have been pushing myself to not let any balls get behind me this spring. My teammates and coaches have helped me a lot in making improvements in my game. It will make me a better player for them too."

She had to administer some fitness tests on herself and report results, as the squad, in her words, "expects you to show up in shape and be conditioned."

The AFF Women's Championship in an annual tournament. Tomanon noted the weather would normally be extremely humid, but that the region is also heading into monsoon season.
"I have been training in the early afternoons in South Florida to try and get my body ready for the conditions I expect to be in over there."

The dual citizen said she has a sense of pride in her ability to play for a national team.

"I am such a proud Filipino about this," she said. "I get excited when I see any Filipino in Florida. I still have family over there and I expect to see a lot of them if I get to stay and play." 

Should she make the team, she will expect to miss the first day or two of preseason camp at FIU. But expect her to return in playing shape and with fun summer stories to tell.

#####
 
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.