MANILA, Philippines—More than 700 players have applied for the first draft class of the Women’s National Basketball League, proving the impact of the female game in the country.
A whopping total of 702 applicants signed up as the league moved its deadline from October 1 to September 22 due to the sheer volume of names they had received.
“It’s really overwhelming,” said WNBL Executive Vice President Rhose Montreal. “We at the WNBL are truly humbled with the number of applications we received. This just shows that we have a lot of talent in women’s basketball here in the country.”
Applicants not only came from the three major islands of the Philippines but also from abroad.
Monique Del Carmen, Raiza Palmera-Dy, April Lualhati, Jack Tanaman, Janette Yanez, AJ Gloriani, Tina Deacon, and Fille Claudine Cainglet have all sent their applications for the draft.
The WNBL will then filter out the applicants starting with their ages.
Players below 21 won’t be eligible while the credentials of the athletes would be their biggest assets for them to be invited into the Draft Combine that would take place in Pampanga from Oct. 12 to 16.
The final list for Combine invitees will be announced next week with the online draft lottery taking place on Oct. 18. The draft proper will be on Oct. 30 with each team getting a “protect six” list.
Teams from the Armed Forces of the Philippines—namely the Navy, Army, and Air Force—won’t join the draft and instead will submit their full lineups with each player required to have been enlisted for at least a year.