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Gilas Women eye February training restart; Injured Jack Animam likely to miss SEA Games
By BEA MICALLER,GMA NewsA February training restart is in the pipeline for the Philippine national women's basketball team as the squad looks to defend its two titles in the Vietnam Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May 2022.
Gilas Pilipinas Women head coach Patrick Aquino said they are targeting to convene the nationals in another bubble type set-up in their bid to retain their titles in both the 5-on-5 and 3x3 categories.
"We were really supposed to enter another bubble training [in November
] but in times like this, it's really hard," Aquino told GMA News Online in an interview."Once everything is okay, we'll have to try to go to another bubble which is what we need for the SEA Games. We might start this February, that's really our target."
But there are roadblocks are standing in the way of the Gilas Women's preparation.
The country is currently experiencing a spike in COVID-19 transmissions that prompted the national government to place most areas under a strict Alert Level 3, which prohibits contact sports including practices.
Exempted from the rule are activities to be held in bubble formats, which should be approved by either Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) or Games and Amusements Board (GAB).
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Last year, Gilas Women set up a training camp in Lipa, Batangas in preparation for the 2021 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Jordan. Batangas, however, is currently included in Alert Level 3 areas.
"With the situation right now, clearly we'll only do training and no tune-up games. It's hard to leave the country. Originally, I wanted to go to Taiwan for training but that's challenging in the pandemic. We'll just stay here," added Aquino.
Gilas Women, who recently moved up to the 43rd spot in FIBA rankings, will also likely miss the services of mainstay Jack Animam as the 6-foot-5 beanpole is still in recovery following her recent knee surgery in the US.
But Aquino said the team has plenty of talents who can fill in the shoes left by Animam.
"As of now, Jack is unavailable because she got injured and so she just got operated [on] last January 12. She might not make it to the SEA Games. Most likely, she will not make it," shared Aquino.
"We still have Afril [Bernardino], Janine [Pontejos], Khate [Castillo], Clare [Castro], and then that's why I will also go to the States sometime this March because of the recruitment."
—JMB, GMA News