HAVING a permanent netball court and boosting its present squad with reinforcements and tune-up games overseas are part of coach Piao Fedillaga’s priorities for the national women’s netball squad’s buildup for the 6th Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games set Nov. 16 to 26, 2023 in Thailand.
“If possible, gusto po namin ng permanent netball court and tune-up games with other foreign teams para sa aming preparations for the AIMAG,” Fedillaga said yesterday during the online Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum.
The Siklab squad qualified for the AIMAG with a fifth-place finish in the 12th Asian Netball Championships that ended over the weekend in Singapore, winning five games and losing once in the 11-nation competition.
Asian netball powerhouse Sri Lanka subdued Singapore 63-53 in the championship match to retain the title.
“Sana ma-address na ‘yung problem namin regarding a regular netball court kasi ‘yan and malaking kailangan namin,” stressed Fedillaga, who has been the national coach since 2015.
She said their showing in Singapore was a marked improvement from their ninth-place finish in the 2018 edition also held in Singapore.
The Filipinas bagged a plate title in the Asian meet after a sweep of Maldives (59-41) and Brunei (40-37) in Group F during the second round of the competitions at the OCBC Arena in Singapore. Earlier, they split their games against India (45-41) and Sri Lanka (99-37), relegating them to the group plate.
Siklab will face the same cast of teams in the AIMAG as the top eight finishers in the Asian netball earned a slot in the quadrennial showpiece originally set last March, but was reset to next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aside from the Philippines, Singapore, and Sri Lanka, other countries competing are Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brunei, Maldives, and India.
Fedillaga said they had been training at the city of Manila’s Sta. Mesa gym and the Ronac court in San Juan although both facilities did not have the dimensions of a regular netball court.
Joining her in the public sports program backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Milo and Amelie Hotel were team captain Ken Lomogda and Vangie Soriano.
Fedillaga said the team is also looking forward to tune-up games overseas, possibly in Singapore, which has been helping the country’s netball program and has a commercial netball league.
