Camilla Escoto has witnessed the growth of women’s basketball in the country from her time as a UAAP champion with the NU Lady Bulldogs to its exponential rise in recent years.
Also a national team assistant coach, the Antipolo City native is happy to give back to the school that gave her many opportunities.
Now, as a coach for the NUNS Lady Bullpups, she aided in steering the squad to the Manila Live NBTC 19-U Girls Tournament championship.
However, she states that this win is not just for them, but for the entirety of women’s basketball in the country.
“Unang una, I’d like to credit NBTC for organizing this tournament. This means a lot to all the women’s basketball players in the country, and across the globe. What happened this past week is a culmination of the effort of everyone in the women’s basketball industry.
“It’s an honor to be coaching and be able to win today, I’mbr just very happy. It’s an awesome feeling, I’m not focused on our win, but women’s basketball winning in general,” she said.
Similarly to her player Cielo Pagdulagan, she hopes to fully implement girls’ basketball in the UAAP as a regular sport.
The UAAP held a demonstration 5-on-5 high school girls’ basketball tournament in Season 82 but was stopped due to a lack of participating teams. In Season 85, the league held a girls’ 3×3 tournament.
“So ngayon, ang nakikita ko kasing advantage diyan is mga high school players na galing sa iba’t ibang lugar, you get to put them in one competition, na mapu-push mo sila, hindi sila nali-limit. You get to see the best from them, and they understand na gantong kalakas ang competition sa Manila, especially sa UAAP,” she added.
While girls around the country wait for their chance to play on the country’s biggest high school stage, Escoto is happy that the NBTC has its doors wide open for them to compete.
“I’m very happy na as early as high school, they get to see na ganito agad ang competition,” the former Lady Bulldog concluded.
