THE PBA is also looking to help further promote women’s basketball in the country.
Commissioner Willie Marcial disclosed plans of similarly putting up a regular 3×3 tournament for women’s once the league gets to officially launch the PBA 3×3 tournament.
Marcial said women’s basketball being integrated to the regular league calendar has been one of his pet programs when he assumed the commissionership in 2018.
“Unang pasok ko sa PBA yun talaga ang gusto ko, mag-karoon ng mga babae na makakapag-basketbal kahit sa 3×3,” said Marcial.
The project is already in the pipeline as the league is set to formally launch the inaugural men’s 3×3 meet this season until the COVID-19 pandemic put everything down the drain.
But by next year when the health situation hopefully gets better, the stand alone three-a-side competition will finally take off with committee chairman Richard Bachmann, the governor of Alaska, leading the way.
From there, the women’s side would follow suit.
“Natigil lang ng kaunti. Pero yun pa rin ang gusto kong mangyari na papa-approve ko sa PBA Board,” Marcial bared.
The proposal already got an initial endorsement from Board chairman Ricky Vargas, who recalls the PBA having sponsored a 3×3 meet among women players during the time of former commissioner Chito Narvasa.
“Maganda yan. Personally I agree with that. We should bring in 3×3 women,” said Vargas.
“There was a time na nag-karoon tayo ng womens basketball. It was on a trial basis, pero ok yan.”
Women’s basketball in the country has been on a rise, capped by the double gold medal it won in last year’s Southeast Asian Games in team basketball and the inaugural 3×3 event. (RG,PBA Website)
