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| FIBA Asia Cup for Women Trophy |
The Philippines will have a special tourist for the next couple of days, as the trophy for the FIBA Asia Cup for Women is now in the country, allowing fans to have a closer look at the continent's top prize for women's basketball, as well as highlight and celebrate the growing local legacy of the sport.
Personally hand carried by FIBA-Asia's Head of Communications Magesh Saba, it marked its arrival with a special invite-only gathering at the MAAX branch of Buffalo's Wings 'N Things that included select media members, as well as the Gilas Pilipinas Women's team. BWNT is among the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas' official partners for the tour.
The next couple of days of the tour also is set to highlight local pride and community roots.
On the second day of the tour, June 17, the trophy is off to Malolos, Bulacan, the hometown of Jack Danielle Animam. A motorcade is set to weave across the streets of the historic city, which will include passing through its city hall and culminate at the historic Barasoain Church.
The third and final day of the tour, June 18, will be headed to five universities, of which its alumnae have figured in the recent ascent of the sport in the local scene through their participation in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines as student-athletes.
Serving as the first stop of the tour in at De La Salle University, where the trophy will be displayed in front of the St. La Salle Building. Khate Castillo, whom fans remember as the one who beat Sabrina Ionescu in a shootout when the American standout visited the country earlier this year, was a feared shooter from distance with the Lady Archers.
It then heads to National University, where current Gilas Women head coach Patrick Aquino engineered the Lady Bulldogs into one of the premier dynasties in the UAAP, with the likes of Afril Bernardino, Animam, Stef Berberabe, Angel Surada, and Monique del Carmen, and now producing future stalwarts like Cielo Pagdulagan into its ranks.
Acting as the midway point of the campus tour is the University of Santo Tomas, featuring former UAAP champion Kent Pastrana, who is set to make her senior national team debut. The trophy is set to make an appearance at the Arch of the Centuries within the campus that is set to host the UAAP's 88th season.
From Manila, it is set to travel to Quezon City, where it will reside at the Blue Eagle Gym, the iconic sports facility inside the Loyola Heights campus of Ateneo de Manila University. Two-time UAAP Most Valuable Player Kacey dela Rosa holds the fort for the Lady Eagles, whether in 5x5 or 3x3. Fellow Blue Eagle Katrina Guytingco has been part of multiple medal-winning teams during the SEA Games.
The final stop of the tour will see a short run along Katipunan Avenue into the University of the Philippines, where it will be set beside the iconic Oblation statue. Aquino's alma mater has a couple of up-and-coming standouts in Louna Ozar and Camille Nolasco set to establish the Fighting Maroons as not just a force in men's basketball, but also on the women's side.
The SBP will provide the necessary content throughout the tour through its official social media platforms.
