In 2008, the Women's Philippine Basketball League was revived in the hopes of professionalising the country's top sport for women. But the excitement turned sour when the players were made to wear makeup and a tight-fitting uniform.
"They looked like sales ladies playing basketball," former player Mariana Lopa said.
Her comment is reminiscent of a time when men completely dominated Philippine basketball, including the idea of the women's game.
"We came from the generation when [men] hyped up women's basketball to look a certain way," she said.
The Philippines is a basketball-crazed nation. There's a court on every street; locals play in flip-flops and own at least one jersey made at their neighbourhood store.
In 2022, 8.5 million followers of the NBA Facebook page were from the Philippines, making it the biggest online fan base outside of the United States.
Being told to be 'poised and graceful'
Despite the country's over-saturated love for the game, basketball has struggled to be inclusive for women.
America first introduced the women's game to primary schools in 1910 when they colonised the Philippines, but since then, men have taken over in terms of access and leadership.
Justine Domingo, a point guard for the Philippine State University team, recalls growing up playing basketball with men. She would play with her two brothers, with their father as the coach, and be called to join scrimmages with other men in her village.
Despite being the lone woman in the group, she loved the game.
"Everyone thought I was cool and admired me for being a girl playing basketball," Domingo said.
"I'm happy when they praise and compliment me, but I enjoyed it more when I discovered that I am able to 'keep up' with the fast pace and physicality of men, as well as their trash talk."
Domingo's parents were her biggest supporters and believed that basketball could be a career. When they enrolled her on a training camp, she was surprised to see other women like her who were just as talented and passionate about the sport.
Domingo was accepted into a high school girls' team, but her transition to playing with other women was bumpy. She was heavily criticised for being "too physical" and was often misunderstood on the court. Coaches told her to be more "poised and graceful" when playing.
When Domingo entered college, she also realised that not every woman had her level of support.
The point guard had teammates whose parents didn't support their basketball dreams, which affected their commitment and performances in games.
"Support doesn't always have to be physical, but you'll always need someone to cheer you up and believe in you," Domingo said.
"They struggle trusting their decision to continue playing basketball because their parents believe that there's no future in the sport. With that mindset, they end up feeling like they don't fit this path."
Making slow progress
Realistically, it has been hard for women to put their faith in basketball.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, women's basketball was one of the first sports cut from university sports funding.
There is also a lack of coaches and little access to water and sports drink tanks.
But with financial support and investment coming from select private companies, progress is being made.
National University (NU), one of the Philippine schools that invested in recruitment, has set the record as the country's most successful sports team with 108 straight wins in the collegiate league, which ended last November.
The Philippines bagged back-to-back gold medals in the last two stagings of the Southeast Asian Games, and the country's youth squad nabbed a bronze in the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Women's Asian Championship.
"I feel like we were at the beginning of it," Filipino-Canadian basketball star Camille Clarin said, who plays for the national team Gilas Women and NU.
"The torch is slowly getting passed down to other generations, and opportunities are more widespread."
An outpouring of fans
In February 2023, the Philippines hosted Manila Hustle, a 3x3 tournament that invited top club teams from Japan, Korea, Thailand and Singapore. Staged in a shopping mall where the games were free to watch, it sparked the curiosity of Filipino shoppers.
Eventually, fans showed excitement for the game and started to place bets with each other – a typical practice in men's games.
Lopa is a player agent and Managing Director of Girls Got Game, a non-profit that holds sports clinics in impoverished areas in the Philippines.
She says she was surprised at the turnout.
"I was so shocked that so many people came out to watch," she said.
"It was one tournament where everybody in women's basketball was there.
"Everywhere you went, you saw someone you knew, and the most amazing experience for me was when I saw a stranger in a Camille Clarin jersey."
Next stop WNBA
With basketball heavily embedded in Philippine culture, international teams have been impressed with the Filipinos' quality of basketball.
Lopa feels the same way, with women's basketball now being so different from when the focus was on the players' appearances.
"We're not fans who just like a player because she's pretty or sexy," Lopa said.
"Filipinos know that our basketball players are good, that's why Afril Bernardino and Jack Animam are popular," said Lopa about Filipina players who have played professionally overseas.
"The exciting thing is I think we have a better chance of sending a player to the WNBA than the men will ever have."
Not on equal footing yet
Clarin has found her purpose in pushing the country's women's basketball scene forward.
"I hope that eventually, women don't have to fight for a spot in the world of sports and that the only thing they have to worry about is getting better for themselves," Clarin said.
As the Philippines continues to love basketball, it's now time to deepen it by embracing the uniqueness of the women's game and loving it as equally as the men's.
"We are built differently, uniquely made and created by God, so we have skills that are not measured just by power and ability, but we are also strong in how we handle emotions during the game and by how flexible we can be," Domingo said.
"We just have to embrace and understand that this is women's basketball."
Beatrice Go is a freelance journalist and researcher from the Philippines. She was a former Rappler Sports multimedia reporter covering sports governance, national teams and athletes.
She is a member of ABC International Development's Women in News and Sport Initiative, funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Team Up program.
