Nelson Morales

FIBA: Sandy Arespacochaga named new Gilas women U18 head coach

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17791819626062026051910058_PBA Images9.JPG" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Coach Sandy Arespacochaga. PBA Media/File"/>Coach Sandy Arespacochaga. PBA Media/File </div>MANILA — The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has named Sandy Arespacochaga as head coach of Gilas Pilipinas Under-18 Women ahead of the upcoming 2026 FIBA Women&#x27;s U18 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers.Arespacochaga has already begun handling the squad’s preparations for the tournament, which will be hosted in Bacolod from June 2 to 6.A multi-titled assistant coach in both the UAAP and PBA, Arespacochaga also brings experience in youth basketball after steering Gilas Pilipinas in the 2019 FIBA U-19 Basketball World Cup.His appointment is part of the federation’s continued push to strengthen women’s basketball under SBP president Ricky Vargas.Asked why Arespacochaga was tapped to lead the squad, Gilas Pilipinas Women program director Bacon Austria said his ability to teach and develop young players made him the ideal choice.“First of all, he is a teacher. At this stage, he fits perfectly in shaping the girls’ future. More than winning, his focus is on developing the girls into better basketball players and better people,” Austria said. “On the basketball aspect, Coach Sandy is no stranger to FIBA tournaments. He’s already coached Gilas Youth Men and assisted Gilas Men at the World Cup level.”Austria added that the program also brought in assistant coaches from the high school programs of National University and University of Santo Tomas.“For the assistant coaches, we asked the NU and UST high school programs to lend us one of their coaches to help Coach Sandy,” Austria said. “UST and NU have been dominating women’s high school competitions, and most of the talented players in that age group are with their programs already, so it made perfect sense to make sure they will have representation in the coaching staff.”Despite hosting the SEABA qualifiers, the Philippines has already secured a place in the 2026 FIBA Women’s U-18 Asia Cup after winning Division B in 2024 and earning promotion to the top division.Arespacochaga said he welcomed the opportunity to handle the women’s team, even as it marks his first stint coaching in the women’s program.“I’ve been a fan of women’s basketball, but I’ve never coached women’s basketball, so I’m really thankful for this opportunity,” he said.The coach said the team’s formation goes beyond simply assembling a roster for the qualifiers.“We formed the pool with the idea not just of forming the team for SEABA. We wanted to form a pool that included players whom we can help out and help elevate because we wanted to elevate women’s basketball as a whole,” he explained.Arespacochaga added that the training pool includes several younger prospects, with some as young as 12 years old.“We’ve welcomed a lot of players, even younger players. We had a couple of 14-year-olds, and the youngest was just 12,” he said, before adding that practices have been opened to other women’s basketball coaches as part of the program’s long-term development plans.“We’ve also opened our practices to women’s basketball coaches. If they want to join us, we’ll welcome them. If they have any questions, we’ll answer because we’re looking at this more than just preparing for a tournament.”The team is still awaiting the arrival of two key players, Tiffany Reyes and Sophia Dignadice.Reyes last suited up for Gilas in the FIBA U16 Women&#x27;s Asia Cup 2025, while Dignadice already saw action at the senior level in the FIBA Women&#x27;s Basketball World Cup Qualifiers in France earlier this year.“We’re relying on our communication with them. Since they cannot be physically in practice yet, the best that we can do is to meet with them online to just discuss what we’re doing. We’re going to send them videos of what we’re doing in practice,” Arespacochaga said.“With the situation, we cannot come up with a system that is too complicated within the timeframe and the limited practices we will have. So we’ll come up with things that make sense offensively and defensively.”Reyes is expected to arrive in late May, while Dignadice is set to join the team just before the tournament begins.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has named Sandy Arespacochaga as head coach of Gilas Pilipinas Under-18 Women ahead of the upcoming 2026 FIBA Women's U18 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has named Sandy Arespacochaga as head coach of Gilas Pilipinas Under-18 Women ahead of the upcoming 2026 FIBA Women's U18 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers.