Cebuana cagers grateful for NU tryouts experience

CEBU CITY, Philippines – “We got game too!”

Zarah Abigail B. Lucido, Adeline Augusto, Lelahel Flores, and Krystabel Shayne Caparoso may not have made it to the list of National University (NU) women’s basketball head coach, Pat Aquino, but these girls are thankful for one thing, that they were given a chance to showcase their basketball skills because according to them, the boys are not the only ones who can play basketball.

“Unta modako ang population sa women’s basketball diri kay daghan man girls ang ganahan moduwa ug basketball. Di raman ang boys ang kabaw moduwa,” said 20 years old Lucido.

(I hope that the population for women’s basketball here will grow because there are a lot of girls who want to play basketball. The boys are not the only ones who know how to play.)

Lucido hails from Lapu-Lapu and plays basketball at the University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) only during the intramurals.

There are no women varsities for basketball in colleges and universities in Cebu at present. There are high schools though which have girls basketball such as the Abellana National School (ANS).

Lucido’s schoolmate, Augusto, agreed that girls also have basketball skills.

She added that basketball is her passion and she hopes that it will also be given focus so they won’t just have to play during the intramurals.

While they all see the tryout as an opportunity for a better future, they also see it as a positive development for women’s basketball in Cebu and the rest of the Philippines.

Flores, for her part, is a volleyball player but she took the chance to join the tryouts because she also plays basketball.

“We girls have the talent too, we also have the skills,” said Flores.

As for Caparoso, she hopes for the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) to bring back the women’s basketball competition so she could continue playing basketball.

The 21-year-old Caparoso said that she used to be the team captain of the basketball team during her elementary years at the University of San Carlos (USC).

Now that she’s studying in UC, she only plays during the intramurals.

“I tried out because I wanted to learn more, get more experience. I want women’s basketball to become popular because lately, the focus is all on the men’s,” quipped Caparoso. /rcg