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Ava Fajardo emerges as Gilas Women U16's leader

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Levi Joshua Verora Jr.

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Gilas Youth star Ava Fajardo. FIBA Asia." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/sports/07/19/ava-fajardo-fiba-photo-3.jpg"/><figcaption>Gilas Youth star Ava Fajardo. FIBA Asia.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- When they needed a leader to set an example in the FIBA U16 Women&#x27;s Asian Championship Division B, the Gilas Pilipinas Women U16 found one in Ava Fajardo.The Gilas Women&#x27;s Youth returnee was instrumental in the national team’s successful tournament run in Jordan, leading the Philippines in points (16.2) and assists (5.4), while also averaging 6.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals. One of only two holdovers from last year’s selection along with Ryan Kelly Nair, the 15-year-old younger sister of Ella took it upon herself to remind the squad of 2022’s heartbreak.“Basically, that was probably 99 percent of our motivation for this whole time,” Fajardo said of the nationals’ 2022 run where they stumbled in the semifinals against Samoa and settled for a third-place finish.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/17/23/gilas-u16-women-promoted-to-division-a-after-routing-iran">FIBA: Gilas U16 Women promoted to Division A after routing Iran</a></li></ul>“Me and Ryan, the returnees, we remind them every single day that the job isn’t finished, we remind them of what happened next year so it doesn’t happen again.”There would be no hurdles this time around, as the Philippines swept the opposition and beat Iran, 83-60 in the division final to earn a promotion to Division A.“From a long time, everything really meant a lot to me. Ever since we lost last year, this whole year’s worth of preparation, I did everything because it meant so much,” Fajardo added.“I think it also means a lot also to inspire other people and other Filipino ballers and just to get back; the redemption, it meant a lot. The whole team, we focused a lot during the event. Our dedication was really up there.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/18/23/gilas-youth-routs-thailand-to-get-2nd-win-in-seaba-u16">Alas shines once more as Gilas Youth routs Thailand to get second win in SEABA U16</a></li></ul>Fajardo said much of her maturity on the court comes from how her ate Ella, a seniors team mainstay, guides her on and off the floor.True enough, Ava would wear the leadership mantle this time -- a big turnaround from playing only spot minutes last year -- and did so in seamless fashion.“Ate is very inspirational and is always with me, and I always look up to her when she plays, so I learn a lot from her. Her game really translates to mine so I learn a lot,” Fajardo said.Her taking charge did not only translate to impressive numbers, but also a successful run for the entire squad.The New Jersey Rise player also turned the one-year wait into a personal challenge to keep adding to her skillset and improve her mentality.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/18/23/gilas-women-to-ramp-up-preparations-for-jones-cup-asiad">Gilas Women to ramp up preparations for Jones Cup, Asian Games</a></li></ul>“I think this year, I got to work a lot on my pull-up [jumpers] and I had a lot more poise, into that leader type, I think I stepped up as a leader because last year, I didn’t have much of a bigger role but I think I stepped into that,” she shared.“I think my whole game improved all-around and it showed.”Gilas Women head coach Pat Aquino mentioned how challenging it became to gather youth players who are based from different parts of the globe.“It’s hard to find [players] for the 16 and under age group, because most of them do not have passports, or most of them are from different parts of the world, like Australia, Canada, and the United States, so it’s hard for us to be in a group right away,” he said.“Eventually, we pulled it through and had a good showing naman. I’m very proud for the girls for what they did. The girls deserve it. Dito namin napakita ‘yung gilas and puso. I think we have the future of women’s basketball now.”<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/18/23/gilas-women-to-ramp-up-preparations-for-jones-cup-asiad">Gilas Women to ramp up preparations for Jones Cup, Asian Games</a></li></ul>Ultimately, when Gilas U16 needed its leader, Fajardo showed up to make sure glory would finally be in their hands.“It was pretty difficult to stay focused. We had this whole training camp and our bodies get tired, we mentally get challenged, physically, emotionally, but we push through,” she mentioned.“It was really difficult but the coaches really push us to our limits. At the end of the day, it was all worth it.”<div>RELATED VIDEO:</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BH0Gm2nIMJY?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></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 -- When they needed a leader to set an example in the FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship Division B, the Gilas Pilipinas Women U16 found one in Ava Fajardo.