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Chanelle Molina vows to make most of opportunity to make history as first Pinay in WNBA

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News 

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1628236" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p><br/>MANILA, Philippines -- Chanelle Molina knows what&#x27;s at stake when she reports to the Indiana Fever for training camp in the coming months.</p><p>Not only is Molina trying to make her dreams come true, but she is also representing the Philippines and Hawaii in her journey to get to the WNBA. </p><p>Molina&#x27;s parents are both from the Philippines, who migrated to the island during their youth. The Fil-Am point guard was born and raised in Hawaii, where she became a high school prep star and a five-star recruit.</p><p>&quot;To be the first WNBA Filipino baller, it&#x27;s an amazing opportunity,&quot; Molina said during a media conference call, Wednesday. &quot;I&#x27;m honored to have a chance to be that. I&#x27;m very excited to represent my culture.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Coming from Hawaii, I&#x27;m also representing that side of my culture, too,&quot; she added. &quot;Even though I&#x27;m not Hawaiian or anything, I was born and raised there, so for me to be the first as well, it&#x27;s an honor.&quot;</p><p>Molina was signed to a<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/09/21/wnba-fil-am-chanelle-molina-signed-by-indiana-to-training-camp-contract"> training camp</a> contract by the Indiana Fever earlier this month, having caught their attention while playing for the Norrkoping Dolphins in Sweden&#x27;s DamLigan.</p><p>If she makes it to the Fever&#x27;s regular season roster, it will be the culmination of a long journey that took Molina from Hawaii to Washington State University, where she played for four seasons, and then to Sweden. The Fil-Am guard went undrafted in 2020, something that admittedly devastated her but also served as further motivation to pursue her dreams. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/18/21/chanelle-molina-confident-of-wnba-chances-after-season-in-swedish-league">READ: Chanelle Molina confident of WNBA chances after season in Swedish league</a></li></ul><p>&quot;I feel like, mentally, I got a lot stronger,&quot; Molina said as she recalled the challenges of 2020. </p><p>After not hearing her name called in the WNBA Draft, she had to settle for individual workouts because of COVID-19 restrictions, and waited patiently for a chance to show her skills.</p><p>That chance came in Sweden, where she is currently averaging 17.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game for the Dolphins. </p><p>&quot;What doesn&#x27;t kill you makes you stronger. It motivated me more than ever to make it to the league,&quot; she said of going undrafted. &quot;&#x27;Cause you know, when I eventually do, it will feel that much more satisfying.&quot;</p><p>Since she was signed by the Fever, Molina has received a tremendous amount of support from Filipinos, who are backing her to make it to the top women&#x27;s league in the world. For Molina, the encouragement from her kababayans has only made her more determined.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s really been motivating for me to make it to the league,&quot; she said. &quot;I&#x27;m gonna do my best to be the best that I can be at training camp.&quot;</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m gonna work my tail off, and I&#x27;m not gonna let this opportunity go to waste. So, I&#x27;ll try my best and represent all the Filipino ballers out there,&quot; she guaranteed.</p><p>Even as the spotlight has been on her since she was signed by the Fever, Molina has shown no signs of being overwhelmed by the moment.</p><p>Instead, she&#x27;s more excited than ever to show what she can do and fulfill her dream.</p><p>&quot;I feel like, the game of basketball, I grew up playing it, I eat and breathe it, so I&#x27;m very confident in my abilities as a basketball player,&quot; said Molina, when asked if she was feeling pressured with all the attention now on her.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m super excited to showcase what I got. I don&#x27;t really feel that much pressure. If anything, I feel very excited to just showcase, just really represent everyone.&quot; </p><p>The Fever went 6-16 in the 2020 WNBA season, missing the playoffs.</p><div><strong>Related video: </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L4In9jslVZg?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Chanelle Molina knows what's at stake when she reports to the Indiana Fever for training camp in the coming months.</p>

Chanelle Molina knows what's at stake when she reports to the Indiana Fever for training camp in the coming months.

Chanelle Molina vows to make most of opportunity to make history as first Pinay in WNBA

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Chanelle Molina vows to make most of opportunity to make history as first Pinay in WNBA

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 25, 2021 04:13 PM PHT

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WNBA

Chanelle Molina

Indiana Fever

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women's basketball

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