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NBTC girls' tournament goes beyond basketball: Mau Belen

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Levi Joshua Verora Jr.

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="NSNU guard Reinhard Jumamoy; Eric Altamirano, NBTC Program Head; Jude Turcuato, PLDT First Vice President and Head of Sports; Butch Antonio, SBP Deputy Executive Director" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/03/04/03042023-nbtc2.jpg"/><figcaption>NSNU guard Reinhard Jumamoy; Eric Altamirano, NBTC Program Head; Jude Turcuato, PLDT First Vice President and Head of Sports; Butch Antonio, SBP Deputy Executive Director</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA – Basketball coach Mau Belen believes the women’s hoops scene in the Philippines has barely scratched the surface in terms of growth.</p><p>“If you’ll look at it, kaunting movement palang ‘yun, kaunting push pa lang sa mga barrier na we are trying to break, sa mga walls na tina-try naming lampasan for almost decades,” Belen said of the country’s string of recent successes especially in the international scene.</p><p>Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Gilas Pilipinas Women captured its first-ever gold medal in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and would then snatch back-to-back crowns with a dominant showing in the Hanoi, Vietnam edition of the regional sporting meet last year.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/02/23/nbtc-national-finals-to-be-livestreamed-on-3-fb-pages">2023 Smart-NBTC National Finals to be livestreamed on three Facebook pages</a></li></ul><p>Gilas Women mainstays like Jack Danielle Animam and Gabi Bade also landed overseas contracts in France and Cyprus, respectively.</p><p>Recently, the first-ever women’s international 3x3 invitational, Manila Hustle, was also held in Quezon City with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) sanctioning the event.</p><p>“I would like to credit those people, women, girls who came before us, way before us, because they’re the ones who started this. Hindi siguro sila nabibigyan ng ganitong klaseng spotlight dati but if they didn’t start, hindi namin alam kung sino ang susunod,” Belen added.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/02/23/nbtc-finals-aim-to-discover-local-fil-foreign-talents">NBTC National Finals to put spotlight on untapped local, Fil-foreign talents</a></li></ul><p>Given an active role at the upcoming National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) girls national finals as its tournament director, Belen hopes more onlookers will be inspired to play the country’s top sport through grassroots programs such as the upcoming NBTC girls’ competition.</p><p>“Baka hindi pa lang nila nare-realize na gusto pala nilang mag-basketball. But if you give them a chance, an avenue to play, then hey, we have a basketball team, maybe you want to try basketball, and who knows if you love it,” Belen said.</p><p>A trailblazer herself as the first female assistant coach in the PBA, Belen shared that an overwhelming number of inquiries were received by the NBTC regarding the historic women’s national finals, although organizers had to settle for eight squads for now.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/26/23/tnt-stuns-smb-in-conference-finale-for-grand-slam">PBA 3X3: TNT stuns San Miguel in conference finale for historic grand slam</a></li></ul><p>But the NBTC is already looking to expand the pool to bring the best high school girls together in one event.</p><p>“Sobrang dami naming hindi napagbigyan. We’re really looking forward and started planning the next finals na. Sana mas maraming makalaro, mas maraming mabigyan ng chance, katulad ko na naglaro rin before,” she noted.</p><div><strong>--More than basketball--</strong></div><p>Aside from the girls’ opportunity to showcase their skills in the hardcourt, Belen also acknowledged how vital the platform is for the student-athletes to be given tickets to succeed in life through education.</p><p>“We talked about a lot of basketball but on the flipside, alam natin, sa 15 players sa isang team, siguro tatlo sisikat, pero kasama ng pagsikat ang pag-angat ng buhay, pagtatapos ng pag-aaral,” she said.</p><p>“Lahat ng 15 na ‘yun, puwedeng makapag-aral ng libre. That’s the goal for these girls, especially the ones from the provinces. They will have a chance to showcase their talents.”</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/12/23/gilas-women-fil-ams-commit-for-sea-games">Gilas Women: Fil-Ams commit for SEA Games</a></li></ul><p>The eight-team tournament is composed of powerhouse Nazareth School of National University, University of Santo Tomas, Miriam College, La Salle-Antipolo, Filipina Blue Fire, Queen Anne School-Santa Rosa, One Ibajay-Aklan, and a Fil-Am Nation selection comprised of players from Australia, Canada, and the United States.</p><p>The teams will play elimination round games from March 15 to 17 at the Pretty HUGE facility in Taguig City before the tournament culminates with a championship match slated on March 19 along with the all-star festivities and boys’ finals.</p><p>“I know hindi ako ipapahiya ng mga teams na ininvite namin to put up a good show. ‘yung mga oras na nandito sila, they will treasure it and maaalala nila for the rest of their lives,” Belen said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/02/28/23/fiba-bernardino-tongco-set-to-re-join-gilas-women">FIBA: Bernardino, Tongco set to re-join Gilas Women</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><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=2489260" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

MANILA – Female basketball coach Mau Belen believes the women’s hoops scene in the Philippines has barely scratched the surface in terms of growth.