As early as now, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has vowed not to leave the country’s women’s basketball program behind.
Even if much of the basketball federation’s current focus is on the conduct of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, SBP president Al Panlilio and World Cup deputy event director Erika Dy confirmed that the SBP is already looking at hosting future youth tournaments involving Gilas Women.
“We’ll look at opportunities of hosting. Ang FIBA naman, parating nagtatanong sa atin, ‘Gusto niyo bang i-host ‘to?’ So I think the [program] will continue,” Panlilio said on Tuesday, August 15.
The Gilas Women recently made significant strides after finishing sixth in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup last June, while their under-16 counterparts triumphed in the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship for Division A promotion.
“Very good strides in the women’s program. I’m really proud of the girls also and, hopefully, we will achieve the same popularity as the Filipinas. And I think that’s my aspiration for all sports — that we are able to compete globally as a country,” Panlilio said.
“Talking to Coach Pat [Aquino], I think we want to continue supporting the program, for sure,” he said.
Jordan has hosted both last year’s FIBA U16 and this year’s U18 Women’s Asian Championship in Amman.
Meanwhile, women’s basketball hotbed Australia hosted both the most recent continental championship last June and the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup last year, both in Sydney.
According to the FIBA calendar, there are no confirmed locations yet for the 2025 Asia Cup and U19 Women’s World Cup, the 2026 U17 Women’s World Cup, and the 2026 Women’s Basketball World Cup.
“Why not ‘di ba? We’re really looking into that, especially youth tournaments. As I am informed, this is the focus of the SBP after the World Cup,” Dy said.
“It’s really grassroots development, building youth programs. I think Al is looking at the youth tournaments to come here on our shores,” he added.
The Philippines last hosted a major FIBA-sanctioned women’s tournament in 2010, when the Gilas Women won the SEABA Women’s Championship gold behind head coach Haydee Ong.
The Ninoy Aquino Stadium, one of the practice venues for the World Cup, served as the official site of that competition as the likes of Ewon Arayi, Ford Grajales, Melissa Jacob, Cassy Tioseco, and Fatima Tolentino delivered a title for the Philippines on home soil. (ABS-CBN News)