All that and a bag of chips: FDU women's basketball player is also a YouTube star
HACKENSACK — At the intersection of fame, college basketball and Filipino snacks lies Ella Fajardo.
The Fairleigh Dickinson freshman guard from Bergenfield has not played a minute for the reigning NEC regular season champs. She took a redshirt this season for several reasons, the main one being she missed most of the preseason while playing for the Philippines U-18 3-on-3 national team.
And while points and assists (especially assists) are important to the 5-foot-4 dynamo with a good handle, the numbers that count in 2022 are views and subscribers.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a social media star,” Fajardo said, smiling. “I really wouldn’t.”
Then you start looking at the numbers. Fajardo, 18, has 108,000 subscribers to her channel on YouTube.
A recent video on getting her college teammates to try Jollibee, a Filipino fast food place got more than 287,000 views.
Her most-viewed video has more than 3 million views. In that one, back when she was a senior at Gill St. Bernard's, she passed out Filipino snacks and had other students rate them.
Fajardo is the only Knights women’s basketball player with her own name, image and likeness (NIL) deal through a company in the Philippines. Her YouTube channel is now monetized, with ads, so she makes a little profit every month. It’s not enough for tuition, but it can buy some snacks.
“At this point I am just trying to utilize it as much as I can,” Fajardo said Monday. “I have a lot of fun with it. Sometimes it’s a stress release because of school and basketball. Sometimes it’s kind of like work for me; because I am monetized, I have [pressure] to finish the videos so that I know there is something in the end for me.”
Fajardo has the full support of the FDU administration. FDU athletic director Brad Hurlbut said, “I think it is great and long overdue.”
Knights coach Angelika Szumilo, who doesn’t have many YouTube subscribers, made sure that Fajardo was in complete compliance with the NCAA.
“Ella is a very modest person and I was told about her YouTube account by her teammates, naturally, I went to check it out and that’s when I discovered she has quite the following,” Szumilo said. “Ella has a beautiful soul and she really wants to make a positive difference in someone else’s life.”
The show starts
Seeing their daughter become a viral star was not on Ellen and Allan Fajardo’s mind when they moved from the Philippines just before she was born. They just wanted their oldest daughter to be an American citizen.
Allan had played basketball all his life, and when he suggested Ella try it out in grade school, she simply nodded yes. It was love at first bounce.
As a freshman, she went to Immaculate Conception in Lodi, playing for coach Jeff Horohonich, but then transferred to Gill St. Bernard's. She was active on the AAU scene, playing with former Saddle River Day star Michelle Sidor (who is now at Michigan).
The family always kept deep connections to the Phillipines, visiting often. Her father suggested starting a YouTube channel so her family there could see her progress. No one ever dreamed it would someday pay.
“The intent, I think, was just to record some memories,” Fajardo said. “I would always include my sisters, but mainly keep it for my family, and then there was Americans try Filipino snacks. That boosted everything up.”
In that viral video, Fajardo’s tone is pleasant. She drives to campus, talking about her plan. She brings a bag of snacks out. The students are receptive (what high school kid isn’t hungry?). They have never heard of the foods, but they’re game. They rate them, smile, more snacks come out.
It may not sound like The Avengers or anything, but it’s stylish, fun and hip.
Three million viewers can’t be wrong.
A world star
Fajardo has represented the Philippines multiple times. When she was 16, she got a message through Facebook from a coach in the Phillipines at a camp she used to attend. How about trying out for the country's 3-on-3 team?
“I was in school at the time, but it was March break, so I went for a week and I had a few practices, there was one practice the head coach was watching, so I knew I had to bring it and I did, they put me on the team,” Ella said.
She played for the Philippines at events in Malaysia and Mongolia, then helped the team win a Bronze Medal in the Asia Cup.
Now she’s in the player pool for her country, hoping to represent them at even bigger events.
Making the scene
Fajardo had a few college opportunities, but decided on FDU, where she is studying health sciences with a goal of being a physical or occupational therapist.
“Being born and raised here, my goal was always Division I," Fajardo said. “That’s where you get the most exposure. I was open to maybe studying in the Philippines but I knew that in the end, I wanted to study here and then go back there with the knowledge I have gained and I can help players in the Philippines.”
Her family now lives in Randolph. Ella’s younger sister Ava is a promising prospect at Gill St. Bernard's. Ella has embraced the role as a practice player with FDU, trying to bring energy to the court and be a good teammate.
“She does a lot of extra workouts with our assistant coaches as well as video sessions with me,” Szumilo said. “We study some of the best point guards in the game. Ella is a sponge and I believe her eagerness to learn and her work ethic will put her in a very good position for next year.”
The final cut
It’s obvious Fajardo spends time working on her craft. Both the videos and the basketball. She said she’s meeting with some new advisers to help her grow her following.
Her teammates love it, and they’re great subjects to try more snacks. A large social media following is instant status in 2022.
“I did ask her to include coaches every time her teammates were tasting Filipino food,” Szumilo said. “Some of us are food junkies.”
Remember though, Fajardo doesn’t claim to be a social media star. She’ll settle for sensation. In one way, you can say this is just mindless, who cares what a bunch of teenage kids think about some bagged snacks?
But Fajardo does want it to be something more. If she can broaden a connection between two countries, play some basketball and make some coin all at the same time, what’s wrong with that?
That’s a great view to have, no matter how many subscribers are paying attention.
Darren Cooper is a peachy-keen high school sports columnist for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: cooperd@northjersey.com
Twitter: @varsityaces
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: FDU women's basketball player Ella Fajardo is a YouTube star
