By Kristel Satumbaga
A 3x3 women’s basketball league is in the works following the successful showing of the Gilas team in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games last month.
From left, Jack Animam, Afril Bernardino, assistant coach Mark Solano and Clare Castro during the awarding of incentives from Chooks-To-Go last Tuesday at the Bounty Office in Ortigas.
Chooks-To-Go Pilipinas 3x3 league owner Ronald Mascariñas announced Tuesday that the project is in the drawing board with the aim of providing a wider platform for female basketball players in the country.
“We renewed our commitment. We are looking at making a 3x3 league for women,” he said.
The target launch is next month.
The plan is expected to springboard the country’s long-term program of boosting women’s basketball particularly in 2024, where the country can gain automatic qualification for the women’s 3x3 competitions in the Paris Olympics.
“Our target is automatic qualification. In the next four years, we should qualify in the Top 3,” he said.
“For the 2020 Olympics, we almost made it with little activity, but if we organize a 3x3 basketball league for women, we’ll have a good chance, not just for OQT (Olympic Qualification Tournament), but for the automatic qualification.”
The team of Afril Bernardino, Jack Animam, Janine Pontejos and Clare Castro bagged the women’s 3x3 gold medal when the sport debuted in the SEA Games, beating Thailand 17-13.
They went 4-1 in the preliminaries and clobbered Vietnam 21-12 in the semifinals.
With the historic feat, Chooks-To-Go awarded P100,000 cash incentive for each member of the team held at the Bounty Office in Ortigas.
“2019 is a breakthrough year for Philippine women’s basketball,” he said.
Also present were Gilas women’s assistant coach Mark Solano, who came in for coach Pat Aquino, and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios.