Lady Volcanoes all set for Asia Trophy Series

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine women’s rugby team targets a solid run as it competes in the 2018 Asia Trophy Series in Brunei on October 20 and 21. 

Rassiel Sales and Sylvia Tudoc of the Santos Knight Frank Mavericks – both selected after impressive performances in the local competitions – banner the Lady Volcanoes’ campaign along with Dixie Yu and Madille Salinas of Cebu, and experienced leaders Acee San Juan from Eagles RFC and Aiumi Ono of the Makati Chiefs. 

Bunched in Pool B, the Lady Volcanoes will face India, Pakistan, Nepal and Uzbekistan at the Panaga Club in Seria, Brunei.

Other nations in the tournament include Malaysia, Laos, Brunei and Guam. 

The Lady Volcanoes also hope to use the tournament as buildup for their SEA Games campaign next year.

Mentored by Ada Milby, the Lady Volcanoes have been preparing for the tournament for months along with performance manager and strength and conditioning coach Chris Everingham and team leader Kaye Honoras.  

The women’s program has had an internal boost for 2018, following its second place finish in June for the Asia Rugby Championships (ARC) according to general manager Jake Letts.

“Women’s rugby in the Philippines has made some positive strides in the last 12 months, we recently competed in the ARC in June, a first time since 2012 and our national youth team competed in the Youth Olympic Qualifiers late last year, two tournaments that usually were not in our international calendar however thanks to the PRFU, our sponsors and the Philippine Sports Commission, we are able to raise funding and compete in more tournaments each year and develop the program” shared Letts.

The Lady Volcanoes have also recently linked with the MVP Sports Foundation, a partnership with the aim to medal at next year’s Southeast Asian Games.

“We have been working closely with MVPSF and First Pacific since 2014, most evidently in our national youth programs. For 2018 however we strategized together to see what other programs would benefit their support, our national women’s program is one that offers huge potential considering their success over the last few years” Letts added. – Rappler.com