First women’s pro league in Philippines gets GAB nod

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s top women basketball players can now have a professional league they can call their own.

The Women’s National Basketball League on Wednesday announced it has received the blessings of the Games and Amusements Board as the country’s first women’s pro cage league.

“Yes, the WNBL will be the first homegrown professional league,” said WNBL executive vice president Rhose Montreal.

The emergence of the WNBL should give players like national team mainstay and Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Jack Aminam a reason to stay home and ply their trade on foreign soil.

Already, the WNBL had seven teams that included current national team stalwarts Gemma Miranda, Janine Pontejos, Snow Penaranda and Afril Bernardino among others.

On the same day, the National Basketball League, the WNBL’s men’s counterpart, has also turned pro, making it the second existing men’s pro league after the Philippine Basketball Association.

The Metropolitan Basketball Association was the second league to gain pro status in the late 90s but it folded up in 2002.

Montreal, however, stressed they will not commit the same mistakes committed by the MBA and will focus more on producing talents from the provinces.

“The NBL will be complimentary to the PBA because we will be homegrown and regional-based,” said Montreal.

NBL has 14 teams to date.