For coach Julie and co., the process is all worth it for Gilas Women

For all it’s worth, Gilas Pilipinas Women is not just centered on the individual exploits of Janine Pontejos, Afril Bernardino and jack Danielle Animam, but also on the valuable contributions of its second unit. With the game of basketball puts its premium on teamwork, their effort on and off the court made the job easier for its more popular names.

In the second episode of SBP’s Women in Charge last Friday, the trio of Khate Castillio, Andrea Tongco and Clare Castro alongside Gilas assistant Julie Amos joined host and teammate Bea Daez-Fabros as they shared their roles within the squad, which made history in 2019 when they went on top of the pile for the very first time in the Southeast Asian Games.

Having already won a 3x3 gold, Castro said that the celebrations had to cut short in preparation from the 5v5.

“Sobrang saya. After nun, saglit na saya lang kasi may 5-on-5,” said the beanpole from FEU.

A former player herself, coach Amos knew that their glorious run was four years in the making that begun in the FIBA Asia Championship in 2015 as she was the deputy to Patrick Aquino.

She told Daez-Fabros, “When we competed, may improvement naman. Naging level 1 tayo.”

However, the biennial meet was a different beast altogether, in which the country is defending their silver medal finish behind Thailand that were attained in 2011 (Indonesia) and in 2013 (Myanmar) under Aquino’s predecessor Haydee Ong.

“We’re just always one game away to win a podium finish,” she lamented, as their first two tries ended them empty handed in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. “It’s really heartbreaking, kasi the hard work is there.”

Those teams only lost twice in each of the tournaments, and in those defeats, it was Indonesia who proved to be their bogey team that knocked them out of the medals.

With those setbacks still fresh in their minds, Amos knew that Gilas Women will be ripe for the elusive gold when the SEA Games came home in 2019.

And they did, sweeping the four-team competition in the process which was highlighted with an emphatic rout of Thailand in front of the Mall of Asia Arena crowd.

“Kaya naman natin. We’re just have to work harder and every game, Manalo kami,” she then said. “Luckily, everyone wanted to win and showed that kaya naman.”

Tongco shared Amos’ sentiments, and added that during that tournament, coach Pat reminded the ladies that they have to take it “one game at a time” after learning their lessons from those heartbreaks.

“Kaya ibigay niyo yun 101% niyo. Kaya all out kaming mga teammates,” she said, as the reward paid off.

The sniper from Las Pinas was the neophyte in that golden squad, in which she wasted no time to adjust to the system Aquino have formulated.

And the La Salle standout peaked when it mattered, hitting the big shots as she led the second unit from beyond the arc, and told an unconventional way to wake her up.

“Pag nasigawan ako ng teammate or coaches, parang nagising ako bigla,” she said.