WMovement pushes to elevate Philippine women's basketball locally
Published Jul 24, 2023 04:25 am
Gilas Pilipinas Women's success in the international stage is proof that ladies can indeed play ball in this basketball-crazy country.
*WMovement Founders, (from left to right) Jasmine Tiu-Malto, Mariana Lopa, Micaela 'Mix' Bautista, Allyssa 'Lang' Dogong, Sami Bo-ot, and Therese 'Ther' Aseron. (Photo courtesy of WMovement)*
But keeping the momentum alive on the ground level is also necessary to ensure its sustainability and success. That's where WMovement comes in -- an organization that is built on "making moves for women by the women." "Our goal is to build something sustainable and scalable, both for the community and the business aspect. We want to gather everyone and show them that there's a community for women's basketball that aims to maximize the opportunities and break down the barriers so we can grow women's sports in the Philippines," said CEO Allyssa Dogong. Dogong, along with fellow founders Mariana Lopa, Sami Bo-ot, Therese Aseron, Micaela Bautista, and Jasmine Tiu-Malto, were all former women's basketball players who dreamed the audacious dream and finally decided to put it into action this year by igniting and empowering the budding women's basketball community by putting up WMovement. "Alam namin na so many people have tried to put up leagues before, but the problem is walang nagsi-stick na liga," shared Lopa, a former Ateneo Lady Eagle who is now a lawyer by trade. "It's still difficult to make a model na affordable to the team owners and also provide quality competition for players. Lagi kaming nagre-reklamo until we realized, bakit hindi na lang tayo yung magpa-liga?" WMovement has staged two legs of its 3x3 premier tournaments earlier this year and is now set to stage a third leg while launching its First 3x3 Elite Invitational Tournament this August 12 and 13 at Veacon Hope Sports Center in Caloocan. It's a small step, but a step in the right direction nevertheless as it looks to further grow and revitalize the community one step at a time. "When I went to Korea, that's our big takeaway eh. Lugi tayo kasi walang league na competitive dito. Our girls, except if you're a part of Gilas, walang nalalaruan na competitive talaga. Kaya mas ginanahan kami to push it more because it's the only way na we can compete internationally," said Lopa. WMovement has enjoyed tremendous support from companies like Uratex and Titan, which even put up their own 3x3 clubs. Uratex Dream is set to represent the Philippines in the Red Bull Half Court World Final in Serbia this September, while Titans flew the country's flag at the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL WKBL 3x3 Triple Jam in Seoul last June. The two teams headline the eight-team cast for the aforementioned elite-level invitational competition. Lopa also explained that the drive towards 3x3 basketball is also by design, saying that "there are lots of advantages." "It's more financially affordable for the team owners and at the same time, when girls play 3x3, less yung comparison sa gender. We're not as quick, the game is almost always grounded, but those are put aside because the game is so fast. This really differentiates us because the comparison kills us." And to the braintrust, it's just a humbling feeling to see the community grow further. Spurred by Gilas Pilipinas Women's inspirational triumphs abroad on top of the groundswell of excitement fostered by these tournaments, young girls are picking up the sport and more companies are enticed to throw in their support as well. "Sometimes it feels unreal how much the community has grown," said Lopa. "The greatest asset of women's basketball is the people. There was nothing next for us and we just focused on the off-court stuff, but because of that, it was personal for us to have the game grow and it allowed us to use the stuff that we learned off-court to help the game grow more." A lot was already done, but there's still so much to do, and for Lopa and co., the journey never stops until women's basketball can be seen in the same light as that of their male counterparts and for this to be a viable career path for Filipina ballers. She explained: "We have a two-pronged goal: 1) We want women's basketball to be appreciated for what they do on the court and we want to highlight yung skills ng players on the court; and 2) Is to really have basketball to be practical enough to be a source of livelihood for the ladies, a year-round tournament, may it be five-on-five or 3x3, that is successful in economics so that team owners will be incentivized enough to join and for the players to have it be an enough source of their livelihood."
*WMovement Founders, (from left to right) Jasmine Tiu-Malto, Mariana Lopa, Micaela 'Mix' Bautista, Allyssa 'Lang' Dogong, Sami Bo-ot, and Therese 'Ther' Aseron. (Photo courtesy of WMovement)*
But keeping the momentum alive on the ground level is also necessary to ensure its sustainability and success. That's where WMovement comes in -- an organization that is built on "making moves for women by the women." "Our goal is to build something sustainable and scalable, both for the community and the business aspect. We want to gather everyone and show them that there's a community for women's basketball that aims to maximize the opportunities and break down the barriers so we can grow women's sports in the Philippines," said CEO Allyssa Dogong. Dogong, along with fellow founders Mariana Lopa, Sami Bo-ot, Therese Aseron, Micaela Bautista, and Jasmine Tiu-Malto, were all former women's basketball players who dreamed the audacious dream and finally decided to put it into action this year by igniting and empowering the budding women's basketball community by putting up WMovement. "Alam namin na so many people have tried to put up leagues before, but the problem is walang nagsi-stick na liga," shared Lopa, a former Ateneo Lady Eagle who is now a lawyer by trade. "It's still difficult to make a model na affordable to the team owners and also provide quality competition for players. Lagi kaming nagre-reklamo until we realized, bakit hindi na lang tayo yung magpa-liga?" WMovement has staged two legs of its 3x3 premier tournaments earlier this year and is now set to stage a third leg while launching its First 3x3 Elite Invitational Tournament this August 12 and 13 at Veacon Hope Sports Center in Caloocan. It's a small step, but a step in the right direction nevertheless as it looks to further grow and revitalize the community one step at a time. "When I went to Korea, that's our big takeaway eh. Lugi tayo kasi walang league na competitive dito. Our girls, except if you're a part of Gilas, walang nalalaruan na competitive talaga. Kaya mas ginanahan kami to push it more because it's the only way na we can compete internationally," said Lopa. WMovement has enjoyed tremendous support from companies like Uratex and Titan, which even put up their own 3x3 clubs. Uratex Dream is set to represent the Philippines in the Red Bull Half Court World Final in Serbia this September, while Titans flew the country's flag at the 2023 Shinhan Bank SOL WKBL 3x3 Triple Jam in Seoul last June. The two teams headline the eight-team cast for the aforementioned elite-level invitational competition. Lopa also explained that the drive towards 3x3 basketball is also by design, saying that "there are lots of advantages." "It's more financially affordable for the team owners and at the same time, when girls play 3x3, less yung comparison sa gender. We're not as quick, the game is almost always grounded, but those are put aside because the game is so fast. This really differentiates us because the comparison kills us." And to the braintrust, it's just a humbling feeling to see the community grow further. Spurred by Gilas Pilipinas Women's inspirational triumphs abroad on top of the groundswell of excitement fostered by these tournaments, young girls are picking up the sport and more companies are enticed to throw in their support as well. "Sometimes it feels unreal how much the community has grown," said Lopa. "The greatest asset of women's basketball is the people. There was nothing next for us and we just focused on the off-court stuff, but because of that, it was personal for us to have the game grow and it allowed us to use the stuff that we learned off-court to help the game grow more." A lot was already done, but there's still so much to do, and for Lopa and co., the journey never stops until women's basketball can be seen in the same light as that of their male counterparts and for this to be a viable career path for Filipina ballers. She explained: "We have a two-pronged goal: 1) We want women's basketball to be appreciated for what they do on the court and we want to highlight yung skills ng players on the court; and 2) Is to really have basketball to be practical enough to be a source of livelihood for the ladies, a year-round tournament, may it be five-on-five or 3x3, that is successful in economics so that team owners will be incentivized enough to join and for the players to have it be an enough source of their livelihood."