source: Joaquin Henson | philstar.com

The country’s girls youth basketball godfather Dioceldo Sy said yesterday his investment of at least P2 million in training and sending the Careline national under-16 team to the recent FIBA-Asia championships in Pune, India, was worth it but appealed to the SBP for support to keep the squad intact for future competitions.

Careline posted a 3-3 record in the 12-team FIBA-Asia tournament at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune, India’s eighth largest city in the state of Maharashtra, last Nov. 30-Dec. 6.

The Philippines, coached by former UP cager Patrick Aquino, clobbered Malaysia, 65-54, in a playoff for seventh place to finish the meet on a high note. Careline previously defeated Hong Kong, 63-55, and Singapore, 72-56, but lost to host India, 91-64, China, 129-36 and Chinese-Taipei, 110-30.



China blasted Japan, 99-86, to win the inaugural FIBA-Asia under-16 girls title and earn a ticket to the FIBA World under-17 girls championships in France next year. Japan also booked a ticket to France for finishing second.

Chinese-Taipei beat South Korea, 66-63, for third place while Thailand drubbed India, 79-64, for fifth.

The tournament showed a garish imbalance of power as lopsided scores indicated a need for a realignment of forces in future competitions. Two particularly glaring results were China bowling over Singapore by 100 points, 115-15, and Japan crushing Sri Lanka by 111, 120-9.

“Our players were too small but they made us proud by never giving up,” said Sy whose Ever Bilena club won a grandslam in the Women’s Philippine Basketball League (WPBL). “We’re very competitive at the ASEAN level where size isn’t too much of an issue but it’s tough to beat bigger teams whose smallest player is as tall as our coach (Aquino is 6-3).”

Sy, however, said there are lessons to learn from Careline’s first international adventure.

“We found out teams like Chinese-Taipei recruit players from just a few schools to make familiarization much easier,” said Sy, a former PBL chairman. “In our case, we held tryouts in regional camps all over the country. It was difficult to schedule practices during the schoolyear because we could only get everyone together on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We even had to fly in our two recruits from Ateneo de Davao (Trisha Piatos and Tara Araneta) twice a month so we could include them for practices. During the summer, we were able to practice regularly but we lacked the experience and international exposure.”

Sy said PSC chairman Harry Angping allowed the use of the ULTRA gym for practice.

“We’re grateful to chairman Angping for his support,” said Sy. “We’ve had to do this project almost on our own. In the future, we’re hoping for more support from other sponsors and the SBP. We could just fill in the balance of what is needed for the team from what isn’t covered in the budget by the SBP.”

Sy said the lack of a premier women’s basketball league is a damper.

“It would help us if the WPBL could come back, that way the girls have something to look forward to after graduating,” said Sy. “Right now, we can beat any high school team by 40 to 50 points. We trained for India by playing college teams. Next year, we’re planning to tap our friends in China and Taiwan to help our program. Without a premier league, we’re at a loss.”

Sy said since agreeing to bankroll the under-16 team’s training early this year, he has found a soft spot in his heart for the girls.

“They’ve become close to me, like my family,” said Sy, chairman of Ever Bilena, a leading cosmetic brand with a variety of beauty products. “It’s hard for me to let them go.”

Sy said Careline was chosen as the team’s chief sponsor because of the brand’s focus on the teenage market. Careline’s products include make-up and perfume.

“At Ever Bilena, we believe in beauty in sports,” said Sy. “Personally, my passion for basketball goes back to my high school days when I played for the UNO varsity. My team Blu Detergent played in the PBL for seven years and won a championship with coach Leo Isaac. Blu was Asi Taulava’s first team in the Philippines. Before Asi became a PBA star, I would ask Manny Pacquiao to jog with him near the Cultural Center. That was also before Manny became an icon.”

In India, Aquino was assisted by the WPBL’s first MVP Julie Amos and Paul Du. The players were former PBA cager Bobby Jose’s daughter Danica of Miriam, Jonah Melendres, Lore Rivera of UST, Kitkat Nitorreda, Piatos, Araneta, Jackie Tanaman, Trish Dy, Ginny Pioquinto, Elrica Castro, Kai Javier and Cheskie Tantoco whose great-grandfather was Gen. Carlos P. Romulo.

In the Philippines’ win over Malaysia, Rivera hit 17 points, Jose 13, Melendres 12 and Araneta 10. Rivera also hit 14 against Hong Kong, 11 against Chinese-Taipei, 14 against China and 10 against Singapore.


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