"ITO ang liga ng bawat Pilipina."
The Women’s Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL) is set to make history as it begins its ambitious journey of providing a home for Filipino women’s hoopers on Sunday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena.
The league's inaugural season will feature 14 competitors comprised of collegiate squads, clubs teams, and city-based outfits playing every Sunday and Wednesday, with all games airing live on IBC 13, as well as the WMPBL Facebook page and YouTube channel.
“The foundation of this league is simple: to create a home for women’s basketball players here in our country,” said WMPBL President John Kallos of the historic staging supported by Manny Pacquiao, Sen, Francis Tolentino, and the MPBL Partylist
“Our goal is ambitious, but we are optimistic that this will be the start of something beautiful for women’s basketball."
The tournament's teams will be divided into two, with Discovery Perlas, Far Eastern University, Centro Escolar University, Cavite Tol Patriots, PSP Gymers, Solar Home Suns, and Pilipinas Navy Aguilas making up Group A, as Group B will have University of Santo Tomas, EZ Jersey Relentless, San Juan Lady Knights, New Zealand Bluefire Valkyries, Kalos PH-Philippine Navy Lady Sailors, and Galeries Tower Highrisers.
Groups A and B will both go through single-round robin eliminations, with the top four teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals, where the top two seeds will have a twice-to-beat-advantage. The semifinals and finals will then be played as best-of-three series.
WMPBL's first game day
The opening ceremony of this tournament supported by Uratex, Red Dynasty, Gotobox, Gerry’s Grill, Prettiest, Team Graphite, Evo Performance Helmets, Ryzen Helmets, Katinko, Dorayd Balls, Sogo Hotel, Bosny Paint, and Discovery Perlas is set for 2:00 p.m..
Following the formalities graced by WMPBL Chairman Manny Pacquiao, three games will kick off the season.
The Growling Tigresses will face Discovery Perlas at 4:00 p.m., followed by PSP Gymers taking on Imus-SIS VBL, and Cavite-Tol Patriots going head-to-head with New Zealand Bluefire Valkyries.
“Yung love ko talaga for women’s basketball, I think yun yung rason kung bakit ko tinanggap [ang pagiging commissioner],” shared WMPBL Commissioner Haydee Ong, a former national team head coach.
"At the same time, siyempre, the more tournaments or leagues like this, mas marami tayong made-develop for the national team.”
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