Jack was the only NU player to make the Mythical Five. But like the rest of the women on the national squad, she is hurt by the dearth of playing opportunities outside of the college leagues. It was so frustrating, everyone was crying, he says. They brought out life-size standee of Jack so she could be part of their group photos; they even hung a medal on it. Camille, meanwhile, would be spotted wearing shirts with feminist slogans like Women dont owe you shit and Well-behaved women rarely make history.. Once were there, we didnt have famous coaches like Ateneo, La Salle, UST, FEU. Shy, Elisha She made her first shot at age 13 and had to work twice as hard to catch up to other girls who discovered the sport sooner. Monique Del Carmen, who scored seven points in the first quarter to build that early lead, would finish with 15 points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Jack, for instance, has transformed from a bright young prospect to UAAP Season MVP, Finals MVP and now, two-time SEA Games gold medalist in the 5x5 and 3x3 basketball events. Through history, through achievements, thats how we can give a voice to womens basketball.. High school standouts in Metro Manila wanted to go to bigger schools like Ateneo, La Salle, University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, and University of Santo Tomas. "Giving you the hottest photos in sports". Id only be the third or fourth person to talk to the players, Coach Pat shares. Its worth noting that among the top ten countries, nine have a womens professional league. Five in a row. Even in school, PE classes are segregated by gender: basketball for boys, volleyball for girls. It was an overtime game. They struggled to get sponsorships. Try asking June Mar Fajardo and James Yap those questions, think they won't be pissed off?, Jack adds: They might even punch the person who asked those questions., The commissioner of the PBA at the time, Chito Narvasa, issued a memo forbidding the women from wearing long shorts and having short hair, later justifying the decision by saying it was the only way the women wouldnt be mistaken for high school boys.. So Im learning from them, and theyre learning from me, said the coach, who even made his girls play high school teams to build up their confidence. She was still a part of this. The reality that awaits most female players in the Philippines after college, however, often are more questions rather than answers. So when I came in, I had to change that We had to have that mindset that we had to win every game.. While women shouldnt have had to break records to get noticed, they did. Things have started to get better. 96 straight wins. In nine games, they would have a chance to tie the record. La Salle had Kent Pastrana, Adamson had Nathalia Prado. And with every win, they send a message to the league, to the culture, to the girl thinking about whether she should pick up that basketball. Your average barangay basketball league will have mens divisions for every age group, but the only women on the court are the muses. Making it to the top of the mountain is one thing, but remaining on top is a whole different animal altogether. The true challenge came to NU in the Finals. UST took the fight to NU in Game One. Park, Kayin Monique went over to her, cupping Kayes head in her hands and reassuring her. As of 2018, the Philippines is ranked 47th in the world by FIBA. They won their first championship in 2014, and they havent lost a single game since. Rookie Camille Clarin, a member of the team that took home the bronze medal in the FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup, was asked in a Q&A on Instagram Why basketball? She rolled her eyes at the camera and fired back: Why not? We said no, were college students. The NU Lady Bulldogs open up about the joys and the challenges of being a record-breaking basketball team. The resentment has long been brewing under the surface. In the third episode of the Go Hard Girls podcast, the NU Lady Bulldogs spoke out against sexist media coverage like never before. They entered the season at 64-0. Diaz, Andre NU Lady Bulldogs Video By BERNICE SIBUCAO and KIKO MEILYDecember 18, 2019. Afril Bernardino and Gemma Miranda were able to find jobs as imports for a professional league in Malaysia. Any hiccup, any bump on the road, any off-game or bad shooting night, and they miss the opportunity. Not because of beauty. Second game, we won by a big margin, around 25 points. Jack Animam missed the Lady Bulldogs' latest title win, but her teammates made sure she was there in spirit. On the court, the league was changing as well. Everyone wanted to be the ones to beat us. But while other basketball champions would be treated to sold-out arenas, lucrative sponsorships, and athletes decked out in the latest streetwear, the NU Lady Bulldogs play to paltry crowds that barely fill up the patron section of the venue. Higher than Fiji, but behind many smaller countries like Latvia, Belarus, even the Virgin Islands. The challenge for any ordinary team is simple: win the championship. They should have showcased the skills and smarts of the players on the court.. Its game over unless youre chosen for the national team, Jack Animam says. But in that moment something clicked for his players and they went back to practice just two days later, with an energy and purpose the coaches hadnt seen before. Castro and Prado would be Jacks teammates in the 2019 SEA Games, winning the historic gold medal in the womens 5x5 basketball. It doesnt matter how. The team was at the bottom of the UAAP standings, and played more like an after-school club that didnt even think of winning. But in Game Two, NU started out with a 25-8 lead, a blow from which UST never recovered. on the women. It was the first step to bridge the gulf between the NU Lady Bulldogs and the rest of the UAAP womens basketball field. The girls ran onto the court. But if those are mighty achievements, then what would you call what the National University womens basketball team has done from 2014 to 2019? The NU Lady Bulldogs have a message for young women dreaming of becoming basketball stars. Rhena Itesi put up 17 points and 13 rebounds, Kelli Hayes had 16 points, while Mikka Cacho made two crucial threes in the fourth quarter for a total of 11 points and six rebounds. Kelli Hayes added nine more points in her last game for NU. Every time they step on the court, they challenge what society thinks a basketball player is. These next 10 games were not championship games by any measure, but they sure felt like it for those on the inside. Those are the runs fans tell their kids about; the games they skip school or work to see in person. This was underscored by her experience representing the country in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. Other Asian countries have leagues for women. For the first time, these girls were out for blood. Its game over unless youre chosen for the national team.. As the pressure mounted during the NU winning streak, star center Jack Animam knew they needed to keep their calm in the locker room. This project was produced in partnership with. FEU, who made the Finals the year, had Clare Castro. Barbosa, Jose Opposing teams had the NU game circled on their calendars. Kaye Pingol added another 15 points and five rebounds before hurting her right shoulder. But all dynasties start somewhere. In the NCAA, fans look back lovingly at the San Beda Red Lions perfect 18-0 season in 2010. We were in India. When I started, it was really hard having a team with a losing culture. But Canadian media, coaches, and players are calling to either build their own league, or create a Toronto-based WNBA team. Their games are on television only twice a year. The Lady Bulldogs had to be prepared to take every other teams best punch. We use cookies to ensure you get the best browsing experience. I said to myself, this is a different team, Coach Pat recalls. Instead of shying away from the challenge, the NU girls remained defiant, trooping out in shirts reading #ParaKayJack and #ParaSaNU. For Jack. Mosley, Dylan 66-54. In the years since, Julie had become the head coach of the University of Santo Tomas womens team. Sexism from institutions and media is a challenge that the NU Lady Bulldogs continue to face. The national program has made great strides. In their place was a new core bolstered by Jack Animam. NU stepped up its recruitment, bringing in UCLA starter Kelli Hayes on a one-and-done deal, but other teams were getting more competitive as well. They werent just playing for championships. In 1998, he began coaching women in the semi-professional Philippine Basketball League. It wasnt about her skills she had an ACL injury at the time but about her looks. I remember the sound of the drums. Their games would be televised two days out of an entire year. There is no additional information to display. To see it, just press Settings of your browser > press Desktop site > Done! God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." To understand why the disparity between winning and losing womens programs can be so wide, you need to understand the systemic difficulties that womens basketball faces in the Philippines. But that also meant that any defeat before then and that shot at the record slips away. There are so many talented female players who give up playing because theres no path for us. It was the opening game of Season 80, and the Lady Bulldogs had just lost some heavy-hitters from their previous campaigns. The NU Lady Bulldogs celebrate their latest title with litte fanfare. But I wanted them to stay focused so I thought, Let's not tell them yet that we're doing good. That became the start of our streak, on our third year.. Kaye Pingol, a former Adamson Lady Falcon, transferred teams to reap the benefits of the NU program. The tension was cut only by the coaches instructions and Ria Nabalans discovery of an earworm that never failed to pump her teammates up. The girls are starting to make their voices heard. Jack may not have been there, but the seniors stepped up. She has become outspoken about women needing support. They just laughed, Jack says. She was the best three-point shooter on those Ever Bilena teams that he had coached. Malaysia has its own league, and its no surprise that they rolled into this years 2019 Southeast Asian Games as two-time defending champions while the Philippines entered the tournament seeking its first-ever womens basketball title. The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. But the Filipina women whether its breaking records in the collegiate ranks or making history in the SEA Games are making themselves undeniable. The game went into an extra period before Jack, in a preview of what would become her own MVP season, dominated down the stretch to help her team secure a 69-66 overtime win. 16-0, 32-0, 48-0. Harvey, Serge The buzzer rang. McFadden, Nathaniel We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. We have to learn everyday. I dont know why we dont have one in the Philippines. We come to believe that they had always been destined for their success. This meant drilling them on the basics. The titos in the crowd would even employ a full-court press miss, pa-picture! Act like its the championship. They keep dreaming. Mayu Goto, who was raised in Japan, said moving to the Philippines was a culture shock; while Japan is in the Top 10 of the FIBA Womens World Rankings and has a popular pro league for women, it was hard to even find camps for girls in the Philippines. Recruitment posed another challenge for NU. Ria is far from alone, joining several other former UAAP standouts in the ranks of soldiers. It was so hard because all the other teams wanted to beat us. You play basketball because youre good, because youve got skills and talent. And the season after that, they went and won another championship. Jeeuel Bartolo started out as a ball girl for her older brother; when she was finally given the chance to play, she was the only girl on their team. With every victory, the pressure mounted. Rookies like Camille Clarin and Christiana Dimaunahan will be expected to continue the winning tradition for NU. They grew up without having enough camps for girls. I havent proven anything. There was no confetti. Were the champions. In the Lady Bulldogs locker room before the game, there was a playoff atmosphere. There are so many talented female players who give up playing because theres no path for us. Liga Femenina de Baloncesto. That mark was then held by the legendary Adamson Lady Falcons softball team that won 73 straight games. So you go back to dribbling, how they shoot well, the attitude going into practice. UE scored 13 straight points in the fourth quarter to wrest the lead with 3:18 remaining in the game. After college, thats it. First game, La Salle won. With each notch on that growing win column, the crown weighed heavier. Patrick Aquino has been coaching basketball for over 20 years. So they did what theyve been doing for years: they lifted each other up so they could do it themselves. But a pro league for women is still a pipe dream. Then the last game we lost on the breaks of the game. List of NU Bulldogs Basketball Roster UAAP Season 80 (2017-2018). 6-peat. NU barely survived, thanks only to lock down defense and a huge three-pointer from Kaye Pingol to finish the game, 70-65. They arent satisfied, and thats coming from the fifth best team in the world. The NU Lady Bulldogs dynasty started from the bottom. They had a massive target on their back. But the hard recruiting work paid off, and in his first year as a head coach, NU almost made the Final Four. And so Coach Pat would fly out and take road trips to regional games and Palarong Pambansa to scout players from the provinces. Everyone wanted to be the ones to beat us. When I started, it was really hard having a team with a losing culture. That was the case even for most of the women behind the Lady Bulldogs winning streak. They never even saw a WNBA game on TV until they got to NU. Jack Animam, who would later win regular season and Finals MVP honors in the UAAP, almost never played because she was afraid people would tease her for playing a sport that was panlalaki. For boys. Estrada, David For further information, click FIND OUT MORE. I said, there'll be storms coming in from the front, from the back, from the top, from the bottom, from the side. Nabalan and teammate Jhianne Layug became the first UAAP basketball players to finish their careers with a perfect 80-0 record. They balled so hard that people couldnt ignore them anymore. With every game, they grab peoples attention and direct it toward female athletes. The longer the streak gets, the more ridiculous it seems that people sleep on womens basketball. A sore point for the team had been the 2016 3x3 competition organized by the PBA a tournament so steeped in the male gaze that the marketing materials called the players Baller Hotties, asked the women about their sleeping positions, and whether they had crushes on PBA players. Lets build something together. An incensed Monique Del Carmen makes the point that no one would ask the same stuff about male basketball stars. This is the story of a dynasty under the radar. And with it, they are becoming more vocal about the struggles of their corner of the sport as well. Ligue Feminine de Basketball. In 2017, the streak faced its stiffest challenge to date. . They learned that lesson, and eventually swept that same UE team in the Finals for their fourth straight title. So when I came in, I had to change that, Coach Pat said on the Go Hard Girls podcast. Womens Japan Basketball League. Three-time MVP Afril Bernardino had moved on, as had talented veteran Gemma Miranda. In a fitting stroke of scheduling fortune, NUs campaign for 73 wins would come against the very same Adamson school whose softball squad held the all-time record. Does anybody ask, why volleyball?. Coach Pat remembers how many female players including some national team members declined to join the PBA-organized competition because of these rules. Come to NU, he said. It will hit you so hard that you cannot imagine how hard it is if you're not ready, so you gotta stay focused on the things that we have to do.. Military service Army, Navy, Air Force has always been an option for Filipino athletes to make a stable monthly income while still being able to play the game they love, representing the military in minor leagues. By Maxine Louise Lagman Former UST Growling Tigers Rhenz Abando, Brent Paraiso, and Ira Bataller complete their transfer to reigning 19 November 2019 By Maxine Louise Lagman MANILA, Philippines Colegio de 15 November 2019 By Maxine Louise Lagman MANILA, Philippines Defending champs By Maxine Louise Lagman JD Cagulangan's game-winning triple with 0.5 seconds left ushered the University of the Philippines (UP) to By Maxine Louise Lagman Ateneo de Manila University survived another day, defeating By Maxine Louise Lagman The Univeresity of the Philippines (UP) returns to By Kevin Estrada Petr Lukosz and Ines Santiago blitz through the field to clinch their respective crowns at the Century By Kevin Estrada The Ironman Philippines will make its much-awaited comeback on By Jun Ray Navarres Alaska Fortified IRONKIDS encouraged children to take part National University UAAP Season 81 Roster, Brandon Vera wants to regain ONE Heavyweight title, Folayang, Team Lakay donate learning tools to Benguet NHS, Gilas Pilipinas bows out of contention after loss to Japan, Gilas Pilipinas falls to New Zealand anew in FIBA Asia Cup, Kevin Belingon confident Loman can beat Andrade, Gilas Pilipinas manhandles India for 1st win in FIBA Asia Cup, Gilas Pilipinas bounces back, keeps India winless, NU completes 16-0 sweep, clinches UAAP championship, Jeremy Miado draws inspiration from wife and son, NU beats La Salle in Game 1, nears UAAP championship, Abando, Paraiso, Bataller transfer to Letran after UST exit, Letran dethrones San Beda in thrilling finish, reclaims NCAA title, San Beda forces winner-take-all Game 3 against Letran, UP ends UAAP title drought, outlasts Ateneo in Game 3, Ateneo gets back at UP, extends UAAP finals to Game 3, Tamayo sparks comeback win vs La Salle, books UP to finals, Petr Lukosz, Ines Santiago rule Ironman Philippines, Century Tuna IRONMAN returns after two-year hiatus, Alaska Fortified Ironman invites children in the last leg of Virtual Run. First Womens Basketball League of Serbia. Jack is one of those players fortunate enough to be chosen. But the Growling Tigresses were down just two points, 67-65, with under two minutes to play. After their 80th win, winning took on a different meaning for Lady Bulldogs. This is the story of womens basketball in the Philippines. Filipino fans are crazy about basketball, so the exploits of the greatest teams become the stuff of legend. By continued use, you agree to our privacy policy and accept our use of such cookies. By this fifth year, NU had become a force not just on the court, but off it as well. This is the story of the greatest winning streak nobody talks about. The businessman asked Coach Pat to join the program, first as a consultant, then as head coach. One of Coach Pats first moves was to call Julie Amos. But no matter what happens, the NU Lady Bulldogs legacy will live on. After college, thats it. The information below contains the list of all the players who are included in the current roster of the NU Bulldogs basketball team for the UAAP Season 80. They were all part of this. But they keep playing. Jack had been representing the Philippines in a tournament in New Zealand when she took an elbow to the face, and the fracture meant she couldnt fly home. All the hard work was worth it, Jack remembers. Men would make creepy jokes about wanting to get physical on defense with her. In the UAAP, people still remember the Ateneo Blue Eagles five straight titles in mens basketball from 2008 to 2012. Nobody even brought out a ladder for the girls to cut down the net for what should have been a standard made-for-TV moment. Barker, Jeffrey They have a league for women. And many people who consider themselves sports fans dont even know their names. Mobile Users: Can't see the whole content of this page? View Full Bio, Noah Fellow rookie Christiana Dimaunahan, meanwhile, had been getting a lot of attention on meme pages. In 10, they could break it. Funding for womens basketball is difficult to come by, with sponsors seeing it as a risk. They asked if the Philippines had a pro league for women. The focus was not on tying the record, but on executing what theyve done in practice and what theyve been doing for the last five years. Instead, female ballers have to find opportunities wherever they can. He hid his stress from his players all season long, until the record-breaking victory relieved all of it. Since then, Coach Pat established himself as the leading coach for women in the Philippines. It was a big ask. There isnt a clear path after college. But this was no ordinary team. Camps like Jr. NBA and Girls Got Game are providing more opportunities for younger girls to get into the basketball. Through history, through achievements, thats how we can give a voice to womens basketball, Monique says . Brazil Womens Basketball League. Rivera, Joshua Three seasons in, these Lady Bulldogs were on the road to history. Every game our mindset was one game at a time. Back on the court, the lead kept growing. WebCentral - Rec Facility Reservation Portal, Brooklyn College Recreation Instagram - Daily Program, Hide/Show Additional Information For Noah Shy, Hide/Show Additional Information For Elisha Park, Hide/Show Additional Information For Kayin Olajide, Hide/Show Additional Information For Zuric Harvey, Hide/Show Additional Information For Serge Thraysbule, Hide/Show Additional Information For Emerson Mosley, Hide/Show Additional Information For Dylan Diaz, Hide/Show Additional Information For Andre Estrada, Hide/Show Additional Information For David McFadden, Hide/Show Additional Information For Nathaniel Outmezguine, Hide/Show Additional Information For Gabriel Barker. Those who cannot cut it can still make a living in semi-pro regional leagues like the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. Cynics will say that no streak can last forever. Ria Nabalan, for example, joined the Navy after her career at NU. She and her running mates got all they could handle from the University of the East Lady Warriors. That would have been USTs best chance. That means the Lady Bulldogs would have to defend their title without their star player. Wizwer. WNBL. For most basketball players, an illustrious college career would open the doors to bigger and better opportunities. Jean-Baptiste, Albert In the last two minutes, the teams supporters began handing out championship shirts. No other UAAP team can lay claim to that kind of dominance. Womens Chinese Basketball Association. The cellar-dwellers who just wanted to play ball were no more. When the NU Lady Bulldogs won their sixth straight title and their 96th straight game, there wasnt even confetti.