Young Filipina guns for WNBA dream

MANILA, Philippines – In the wake of Japeth Aguilar’s attempt to enter the NBA, fans can rejoice as another Filipino aims to break into the world stage — one step at a time.

Philippines-born Sophia Olalia Roman, a freshman guard at Dartmouth College, is hoping to be the first Filipina to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), Yahoo! Sports Philippines reported. 

After her family moved to the US in 1998, Roman’s love for the game developed under her father’s tutelage as she competed in different competitions. Roman played in different in summer leagues and worked with professional coaches and trainers to hone her skills and polish her game.

Her hard work paid off as she won countless awards in her junior and senior years and was part of ESPN’s Top 100 Watch List for the Class of 2012. By the end of her high school career, she received a number of offers from different universities to play college basketball and was being scouted by up to 25 different Division I programs at one time. Through her determination and love for the game, Roman became one of the few girls to break into US NCAA Division I basketball.

The 5″7 foot tall Roman reportedly rejected offers from universities such as Princeton, Pennsylvania and chose to commit to Darthmouth, an Ivy League school that could help her improve in both athletics and academics. She is planning to pursue an Economics major, while having a Spanish minor at the same time.

Read more about Roman here. – Rappler.com