Basketball need no longer be just a childhood fancy, school activity or after-office pastime for girls in this country. Just like the boys who love basketball, Filipinas can now dream of one day making it to the big leagues too. 

The Women's Philippine Basketball League (WPBL) tipped off last November 8 after 10 years of inactivity and a month-long buildup that saw the local sports scene, long starved of post-college competitive hoops for women, abuzz with anticipation for a revived commercial women's league.

“It's high time that we gave [women players] an opportunity to play even after their college years,” WPBL and Philippine Basketball League (PBL) chairman Mikee Romero, who spearheaded the league's revival, was quoted as saying by malaya.com. “The future of women's basketball is here.”

Many seemed eager to embrace that future, too. As schools and corporations forged tie-ups with the WPBL, no less than 125 players showed their skills at the league's tryouts held last October 18, which officials opened to all aged 28 and below, expecting a showing from former and current varsity stars. A total of 59 players were later handpicked in the WPBL draft. Eventually, the following squads were formed for new WPBL: Muscletape-Lyceum, Pharex-College of Saint Benilde, Smarts Sports-University of the Philippines, Sunkist-La Salle, NutriC-Ateneo, Mail and More-Chiang Kai Shek College, Bacchus Energy Drink-St. Scholastica's College, Oracle Residences, Harbour Center and Ever Bilena, which won the last WPBL championship in 1998. The RP women's and girls' teams are also in the mix.

“By playing in the tournament, we hope ex-RP team members can inspire the young ones to take up the sport seriously,” Romero said on philippinebasketballleague.org.

In the league opener, NutriC-Ateneo thrashed Sunkist-La Salle 60-46 behind the performance of former two-time University Athletics Association of the Philippines MVP Cassy Tioseco, who affirmed the sentiments of those who revived the league. “It's good to be back playing for Ateneo,” she said after the game, quoted by inquirer.net.

But the WPBL isn't just about giving the country's female players the chance to not hang up their jerseys straight out of college. Organizers see it as a step towards ensuring Filipina ballers will also be wanting and wearing something else in the future: gold medals.

Thus, instead of setting up the WPBL for a single season, officials are mapping out the tournament in such a way that it will last for at least the next five years, thereby doubling as a program to develop women's basketball talent in the country. In fact, one of the WPBL's main goals is to produce a women's squad worthy of the top prize in the Southeast Asian Games. The current national team is also playing in the league as guest competitors to “sharpen [their] killer instinct”, according to philstar.com.

“We are determined to uplift the level of competition in women's basketball,” PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad was quoted as saying by malaya.com. “If we can help our male players, there's no reason why we can't help our female players.”

The vision was met with acclaim by hoop aficionados, including Haydee Ong, herself a former star on the national team and now a coach for the Ateneo squad. “The revival of the women's tournament is good because this will showcase our own brand of basketball and this will also help the national team,” she told manilatimes.net. “This kind of tournament is going to help the sports program of women's basketball. I just hope others will get involved in this kind of project.”

Sports broadcaster Sev Sarmenta echoed her hopes, as he put out a column declaring that the WPBL is providing “a template for change in sports.”

“Although the Philippines has scored victories overseas, a sustained tournament will provide a platform to scout players and keep them competitive before forming a national team,” he wrote. “The WPBL... will provide a template to introduce real change in sports. Which other sports will follow its lead?”

The idea sat well with another noted sports journalist, Bill Velasco. Referring to the internal jostling that continues to plague the groups overseeing the men's national basketball team, he wrote, “While trouble brews on top of the sport's hierarchy, and leadership issues remain unsettled, the lower tiers of the sport look ready to expand.”

The PBL, the country's premiere amateur association, last had a women's division ten years ago when current RP men's coach Yeng Guiao was still its commissioner, related inquirer.net. Former Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Pato Gregorio afterwards tried to start a women's league with RP ladies' coach Fritz Gaston, but his vision did not materialize, until now.

Once the WPBL is in full swing, Romero and Trinidad plan to fully separate it from the PBL and give it its own board and commissioner. Said Trinidad: “It's going to be a league of their own.”

Right now, the WPBL already is.

Photo: “Basketball motif 2” by afroboof, taken from Flickr.com. Licensed under Creative Commons license number BY-NC-ND-2.0-DEED.EN.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites

Disclaimer: Comments posted here reflect our readers’ views and not the opinion of The Philippine Online Chronicles.

Comments

Add New Search RSS

Write comment
Name:
Email:
Title:
UBBCode:	-color-aquablackbluefuchsiagraygreenlimemaroonnavyolivepurpleredsilvertealwhiteyellow -size-tinysmallmediumlargehuge
Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."