All is set for a night of celebrating women empowerment when the inaugural All Women Sports Awards Night unfolds on March 20 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

It will be the first-ever sports awards -- a partnership event of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) -- where all recipients and nominees are female athletes, para athletes, coaches, media staff and media.

“It’s about time that we inspire our young female athletes and coaches with this kind of awards night,” said PSC Commissioner Bong Coo, who is also one of the nominees, during the PSA Forum last Tuesday, March 5.

“Based on our data, there’s only 14% female coaches compared to male, so ang amin ring gustong mangyari is to increase the number of female coaches. Pag ganitong mga may awards, it may also inspire them,” she added.

Coo, along with program committee Nikko Huelgas, Judith Staples and Stephen Fernandez, also disclosed that a ring will be given to the awardees instead of a trophy.

Staples, meanwhile, said every nominee underwent a grueling selection with the help of the PSA to further review their performances that will justify their nominations.

“Nag-research din kung yung mga atletang nag-perform in the past, hindi lang namin tinitingnan noong 2023. May ibang awards din tayo na tinignan natin ang kanila history pagdating sa kanilang performance,” she said.

“Lahat ‘yon ay nai-consider, para masabi natin itong awards night na ito ay credible,” she added.

At present, there are 300 nominees and 136 awardees for major awards including Lifetime Achievement Award, FLAME award also citations.

The list of awardees will be finalized and announced next week.