Tall, speedy belles eyed for RP team

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Girls basketball official Dioceldo Sy is now in search for tall but mobile players who will comprise the Careline-Pilipinas team that will see action in the Under-18 FIBA-Asia Girls Championship slated on June 23-30 in Thailand.

To prepare the team for the tough mission ahead, Sy, chairman and CEO of the Ever Bilena Cosmetics Inc., has instructed RP Careline team manager Johnson Martinez to conduct tryouts this weekend at the Philsports Arena.

The tryouts are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Only players born in 1992 and above are allowed to join the tryouts.

“With a little over four months left to prepare, we really need to form a competitive team right now,” said Sy. “But our priority is to get tall and big players with speed.”

“We don’t have a particular player in mind, so we hope we can find the right players for the team. It’s important that we can form a strong team,” said Sy, who also bankrolled the participation of the RP team in the 1st Under-16 FIBA Asia Basketball Championship in Pune, India last year.

In the India tournament, the RP girls struggled in the face of tall and hefty opposition.

The formation of the RP-Careline team, according to Sy, has the blessing of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas headed by its president Manuel V. Pangilinan and Executive Director Noli Eala.

“This is an Asian level kind of tournament, we need all the support we can get to form a very strong team,” added Sy. “If we have to go to the province to find the players, then we’ll have to do it,” said Sy.