AFTER volleyball, Capital1 is taking part its act to football by joining the upcoming PFF Women’s League.
Capital1 will carry the moniker Solar Strikers in the women’s football league - the company’s second sports team after the Solar Spikers' participation in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) starting in 2024.
Team owners Milka and Mandy Romero are excited to give sport a boost especially since the two are football players to this day.
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“Definitely, we’ve seen the growth of women’s sports here in the Philippines. And we’re only here as vessels,” said Milka, a former UAAP player for Ateneo, during a press conference at the Out of Office in BGC, Taguig to reveal the team.
“We want to push this legacy that we have experienced ourselves, my sister and I, as players. We want to push, even just a little because I think if we can help one woman, one girl reach their dream through sports, then we’ve done our job.
“To echo the words of my sister, we’re here, as Capital One, to push the movement for women’s sports in the country,” Mandy added. “We are here to provide our full support and to show to all women athletes that professional sports is here to stay and that this is really not just about women empowerment, but also showing that girls in sports are girls who lead. We are very excited to be part of this league.”
Multi-titled coach and former national coach Let Dimzon will be at the helm for the Solar Strikers in the PFF Women’s League, whose games will be held at the new Mall of Asia Football Field.
Incidentally, it was in a recent pick-up match upon the invitation of PFF official Belai Fernandez-Dela Cruz that convinced the sisters to join the league when they learned that some of the participants in that game were recently left without a team for the upcoming tournament.
Mandy returns to her roots
Mandy actually showed up in the press conference with a walking boot and crutches after getting injured in the pick-up match.
“She (Mandy) got injured because we started playing football,” said Milka. “We also do like a weekend, weekend warriors, naglalaro kami. And then from there, pinilit ko ‘yung ibang mga Ateneo players na laro tayo. And I said, bring other players. Then she brought players that she knew and sobrang galing.
“Sabi niya [Fernandez-Dela Cruz], actually (they are) professionals, but na-disband ‘yung team nila, they’re supposed to join that and everything. And then when they said that it’s led by Coach Let, I did not think a minute. Sabi ko, please let me know how I can help this team,” said Milka.
Dimzon is determined to make the squad as competitive as possible as they face the likes of reigning league champion Kaya FC-Iloilo and Cup titlist Stallion Laguna FC.
“I think for the experience of my players, we are ready,” said Dimzon, architect of five UAAP titles at Far Eastern University as coach, and one PFF Women’s League title with Kaya FC.
“I think the competition will be good. So we are looking forward to great results and playing against Kaya and Stallion. But we have to prepare really hard. Some of them (players) are alumni of other schools, some of them stopped playing for a while. I just need to prepare their conditioning. And since we are a new team, we have lesser preparations so what we need is to focus on the tactical side,” Dimzon added.
PFF president John Gutierrez welcomed Capital1 to the fold, thanking the company for supporting the Women’s League.
“I hope it snowballs into something bigger … With the new pitch, which is going to be the home of the women's league in MOA, I think investors or stakeholders will see that supporting the beautiful game is a viable investment because the infrastructure is there, and the interest is there,” said Gutierrez.
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