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Pinay baller chases WNBA hoop dream

Filipino basketball fans are always eager to see who will be the first Filipino to make it to the NBA. Half-Filipino Raymond Townsend played in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors back in the late 1970s, but we all want to see a full-blooded Pinoy make it in the big leagues. Johnny Abarrientos was reportedly on the NBA scouts' list in the early to mid-1990s, but never got invited. Japeth Aguilar's NBA aspirations were doused when he recently failed to make the cut with the NBA D-League team that drafted him. The search, then, will have to continue.

While we hunt for a legit Filipino NBA prospect, we already might have a kababayan who has a legitimate chance to be the first WNBA player from the Philippines. Her name is Sofia Olalia Roman. She was born here in the Philippines in 1994, but her father, Tonyboy, an attorney, and wife June, moved the entire family to the United States in 1998, when Sofia was only four years old. She has lived most her life in White Plains, New York, but recently had to move away from the comforts of home to be a student-athlete at Dartmouth, an Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she is now a 5'7 freshman guard for the Big Green in the US NCAA Division I.

Tony recalls that when Sofia was eight, her new school was looking to form a girls' basketball team for an inter-school league. Sofia signed up because "it was fun to play with her classmates." She continued playing for two years, and, like other girls her age, "shot with two hands that crossed on ball release, played defense standing with arms outstretched, and dribbled shoulder-high." The difference with Sofia, though, was the passion she developed for the game, and the desire to improve each day.

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She worked with her dad on shooting and dribbling at the local YMCA, watched countless basketball DVDs to learn more about the game, and used specialized "goggles" to make sure she dribbled low, with her head up. At ten, she competed in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) travel basketball, where teams play against other clubs in-state or in nearby states, such as New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The skill level is noticeably higher in AAU because, aside from the tryouts, there are practices twice a week and four weekend games.

Financially, it was a challenge for Sofia's parents, since for faraway weekend games, teams and parents would stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. Seeing Sofia continuously improve, however, was, according to Tony, worth every penny.

All the hard work Sofia was putting into basketball was bearing fruit, as she time and again gained all-star status and won league honors in Grade School, and attracted much attention from High School coaches in the area. At the age of twelve, she told her dad she would play college basketball one day. Tony knew the odds were stacked against Sofia, as research had shown that only 3.7% of senior girls playing high school basketball end up playing basketball for an NCAA school at the Division I, II and III levels. The percentage gets even smaller for Asians. But Sofia remained undaunted.

Despite being admitted to top Ivy-preparatory schools on scholarships, Sofia opted to chase her basketball dreams by attending a public school, White Plains High School, which had a more competitive basketball program. She started working on her game with professional trainers, as well as strength and conditioning coaches, and a track coach. She would play pick-up games with boys. She would get up early, get home late, and all the time worked on her game while maintaining a high grade point average, a true student-athlete.

The tournaments did not stop. She top-scored for her team, had more than 1,000 points in her High School career, continued playing in AAU and countless other tournaments, and joined the New York Gauchos, which is one of only twenty Nike-sponsored teams in the US. She played street ball, summer and fall leagues, hooped at the famous Rucker Park, as well as the Rose Classic in Brooklyn. She won countless awards. She played against the best competition possible at her level, many of whom would surely play in NCAA Division I programs, and more than held her own. Her college basketball dream was very much alive.

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Sofia was featured in several publications and, in 2009, she played with the Gauchos in an Atlanta, Georgia, tournament, an event that the sports network ESPN covered. ESPN placed her on its Top 100 Watch List for the Class of 2012, which, according to Tony, put so much pressure on Sofia who, under such intense scrutiny, ended up pushing herself too hard. With support from her parents, siblings, and her High School coach, Sue Adams, Sofia settled down in her last two years of High School, and played so well, winning various all-star, all-league and all-section honors as a junior and senior.

In her junior and senior years, the colleges began to follow Sofia's excellent career. At one time, at least twenty-five different Division I programs were keeping an eye out for her. Through the years, she had had her share of interviews and sit-downs with college coaches, and was comfortable in the recruitment chair. Obviously, it was not just about basketball for Sofia and her family, especially her parents, both graduates of Ateneo de Manila University, who put a premium on achieving a good education. She earned the President's Award for Educational Excellence as a senior, graduated with Highest Honors and the Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors, and was a Member of the National Honor Society.

Sofia reportedly considered enrolling at Princeton, Pennsylvania, Bucknell, or Colgate, but, in the end, she chose Dartmouth, whose coaches she had become very familiar with through the years. The dream had been achieved! Sofia was not just college basketball bound, but NCAA Division I-bound. Dartmouth, being an Ivy League institution, would surely challenge her as both a student and an athlete, but, as her dad said, Sofia always had the mindset that "it's all about getting better." Surely, having come this far, another challenge was nothing to fear.

The situation that Sofia stepped into with the Big Green has not been easy at all. The team is rebuilding, with seven freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors, and a lone senior. Sofia thinks the team has a lot of potential to make some noise both in and out of the conference, but, she acknowledges, being a new recruit, she has to earn playing time. So far, they have played six games and have won only one. Their youth is indeed showing. Sofia has gotten into four games, but has yet to make an impact. Hopefully, her time will come.

Speaking about her experience so far at Dartmouth, Sofia, who recently finished her first term, said that the most important skill she needs to have is time management. Striving to always get the best grades she can, she needs to balance her basketball and academic commitments. Further, being away from her family has been tough, and time to hang out with friends has been scarce. She recently invested in mutual funds and is learning how to manage them. She is looking to major in Economics, particularly in Finance, and minor in Spanish.

Her parents both still follow Ateneo basketball online, and Sofia watches with them. Her cousin, Enrico Villanueva, plays for the Barako Bull Energy in the PBA. She heard Japeth Aguilar played for Western Kentucky a few seasons back, and that he was the first Filipino drafted by the D-League. Asked who her favorite basketball players are, she surprisingly named Ateneo phenom Kiefer Ravena as one of her favorites. "I love his style of play," she said. "He is a smart player, very scrappy, and moves low with and without the ball." She likes Kiefer's aggressiveness and hustle.

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In the US, she likes Jeremy Lin, her former hometown boy with the NY Knicks, and now of the Houston Rockets, whom she always watched while he was still in town. She says she loves the way Lin carries himself on and off the court, the way he is deeply religious, humble and hardworking. Sofia says she can relate to the struggles Lin has faced in his life.

In the WNBA, Sofia loves Olympic gold-medalist Cappie Pondexter of the NY Liberty for her leadership, athleticism, good ball-handling, and ability to create shots inside and out. Sofia calls Pondexter a "true point guard" and a "great role model."

In her little spare time, Sofia likes to play pick-up/streetball (What else?!), watch movies, listen to music, read, and hang outdoors. She has a good relationship with her two sisters, Veronica, a sophomore at Syracuse University, and six-year old Abigail.

Asked to describe her game, Sofia, a lefty, says that her strength is perimeter shooting, with range that extends beyond the arc. She also has the ability to pull up when attacking the basket. She handles the ball well and can create shots for herself, or drive and dish to her teammates. She takes pride in being a scrappy defender who loves to hustle. She considers herself "a New Yorker at heart" and a "loyal Knicks fan." Her favorite style of play is run-and-gun, pick-up/street ball. She says she loves to run, pushing the ball in transition. She also plays the pick-and-roll because she can shoot and create something for teammates off the pick.

Despite living in the US for many years, she definitely considers herself a Filipino, and is proud to be one. She has not visited the Philippines recently, mostly because of how busy she has been with basketball, but says that she enjoys Filipino food, rattling off chicken barbecue with rice, pancit palabok, pusit, sinigang, nilaga, puto, and halo-halo as her favorites.

Sofia values the hard work and perseverance she has put into achieving her goal of playing college basketball in the US. She will continue to work hard to extend her basketball career beyond college, whether it means playing outside the US, perhaps for the Philippine national team, or, if she is blessed, in the WNBA. Let's all root for her to continue achieving.

You can follow Charlie Cuna on Twitter @Charlie C.

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.