IN her time in the UAAP, Atty. Mariana Lopa and her batchmates only dreamt of playing in a bigger venue and having more people watching their games.
Fast forward to now, as the league's deputy commissioner, the former Ateneo Women's Basketball team captain is putting in the work to realize that dream for today's college players.
Equal play
"When I played back then [the early 2000s], there's this stereotypical image of basketball that it's a boys' game, so, kami, talagang laro lang, hindi kami napapanood," she shared with attendees of the Equal Play: Accelerating Progress for Filipina Athlete forum on Tuesday night.
She continued: "Pero ngayon talaga, nilalaban ko, na 'Ah, hindi pwedeng diyan lang, ganito lang, dapat dito [bigger location] tayo. Pinapakinggan naman ako."
This season's finale, which saw the University of Santo Tomas Tigresses dethrone the National University Lady Bulldogs, 71-69, last December took place at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Lopa observed the crowd got thicker all the way to the upper box area of the venue.
She said it's all credit to the competitive play showcased by the players in the recently concluded season.
"Parity is coming back, all credit to NU, they definitely set the bar very, very high and all other schools chased it, all other schools caught up," she explained. "NU didn't [get bad], all the other schools just got better, gave the same investment, hard work, and dedication to the women's program."
While she's happy about the big improvement, Lopa admitted that the women's game is still far from reaching its peak.
'Malayo na, pero malayo pa'
Quoting female athletes advocate Ceej Tantengco, who is part of the panel, Lopa continued: "Tama 'yung sinabi ni Ceej, 'Malayo na, pero malayo pa'."
And analyzing the vision, Lopa thinks it would take a village to help it grow further.
"It's super important [collective effort], this is an example of the ecosystem that it requires para mag-improve 'yung women's sports. There's no money [yet], so it takes everybody to play the role," she said.
While teams improve their programs, the media is expected to provide better and 'more respectable' coverage for female athletes, hence, league officials need to do their part as well.
And the most crucial part is to get businesses to take a chance on women's ball.
"A way is to iron up the Gilas women's program, or investment in a professional league, can be 3x3, smaller teams, smaller investments, a good start," she said.
Lopa named the Shakey's V-League, forerunner of the successful Premier Volleyball League (PVL), as an example.
"Everybody's waiting to see if it's worthy of investment. How can it be worthy if there's no money for marketing? Those things cost money, and it takes one to two brands to bite the bullet and invest in it," she said.
"We're still waiting for that person in women's basketball."
And while on standby, it's crucial for all the sectors to make a change.
"Everything right now is organic, small things make a huge difference, small things like UAAP having a women's basketball presscon, every team has a story to tell," she said.
"When media asks the right questions, we should be ready to provide an insightful answer, that's where it begins."
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