ENCOURAGED by the double gold-medal success of the Filipina ballers in the 30th Southeast Asian Games, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 has expanded to include a league that women can call their own.
League owner Ronald Mascarinas bared the development on Tuesday as he gave a toast to the success of Gilas Womens in the regional conclave.
"For women's basketball, 2019 was a breakthrough year. You all won the gold in the SEA Games and we couldn't be any more prouder," the executive said before giving P100,000 as reward to the members of the women's national 3x3 team.
"Now we renewed our commitment. We're looking at making a 3x3 league for women. Our target is the automatic qualification [in the Olympics]. In the next four years, we should qualify in the top three."
Mascarinas said the staging of the women's division should run in conjunction with the opening of the first conference of the 3x3 league for the 2020 season, which is set to begin in the first week of February.
This wasn't the first time the league will welcome female ballers in the 3x3 game, with the MelMac Cup last October also hosting a six-team tourney featuring some of the country's top players like Afril Bernardino and Janine Pontejos.
Now, the local league is hoping to garner enough points to help the Filipinas be one of the top 3x3 nations in the women's division, enough to gain an automatic qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
"For the 2020 Olympics, we almost made it with little activity. But if we organize a 3x3 basketball league for women, we have a good chance, not just for OQT but for the automatic qualification," he said.
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