With the recent success of the Gilas Pilipinas Women and girls’ under-16, is it now the right time to have a professional women’s basketball league?
TV host and event organizer Marc Logan thinks so, as he paid the Games and Amusement Board office a visit to ask for guidance in his proposed Philippine Women’s Basketball League.
Under chairman Richard Clarin, the GAB expressed support to Logan, who heads the Logan’s Run Production, “in line with the GAB’s advocacy to promote, professionalize and protect professional sports.”
“The initiative promises to be a transformative journey, leaving a lasting legacy for Filipino women engaged in professional sports.”
There were no further details yet on the proposed league, but was described as “exciting times ahead” for women’s basketball.
Under lawyer Clarin as chairman, the GAB has been busy engaging with other sports like billiards, chess, karate, esports, to name a few, in the hopes of expanding the professional sports scene in the country.
There were attempts before to organize a professional sports league for women, but none have taken off.
The Philippine Basketball Association also planned a pro league for women but put it on the back-burner and in its place came the PBA-D League.
With the growing talent base in women’s basketball locally and abroad, the Philippines may become a hotbed for women’s pro basketball at least in Southeast Asia.
A testament to the growth of skills of women cagers is Jack Animam, who played as an import in the Euro League before recently taken in by the Wuhan Shengfan in the Women’s China Basketball Association.
Under coach Patrick Aquino, the Gilas Women achieved its best finish at the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup of sixth overall and was promoted to the first division.
