Fil-French connection: Louna Ozar eyeing Gilas Women stint

The Gilas Pilipinas women’s program has often looked to the United States to scout for talents to beef up the national team. The likes of versatile big Kelly Hayes and cerebral playmaker Ella Fajardo, who will be making her first senior team appearance in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup this month, have deepened the talent pool for the Gilas women’s national squad. 

The next important prospect who should be a welcome addition to the Gilas women’s pool is a teenager from Lille, a city located in the north of France, over 200 kilometers away from Paris.

Louna Ozar, who turned 17 years old last May 9, currently plays for the junior squad of the ESB Villeneuve-d’Ascq Lille Metropole. She suits up for both the Under-18 and the Under-20 teams of the ballclub. Its senior squad plays in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB or Women’s Basketball League), the top women’s professional basketball league in France, and the FIBA EuroCup, the second-tier international club competition for FIBA Europe.

Louna in the youngest of three children born to Leo, a Filipino from Camiguin who moved to France in 1995, and Anne, a French national who worked in the Philippines in the early 1990s. 

Both Leo and Anne are basketball aficionados who used to play together in the neighborhood court in Lille. Their children, Paolo, Marlo, and Louna, all inherited their parents’ love for the game.

Louna was four, Leo recalled, when she first started learning basketball. She has not stopped growing as a player and improving her game ever since. 

She has become quite good that she could have played for the French national team in the FIBA Under-16 Women’s European Championship in Portugal scheduled last year. Fortunately for the Philippines, the event was canceled due to the pandemic. Fortunately also for the Philippines, Louna was able to secure her Philippine passport last year, making her eligible to play for Gilas as a local.

In an interview with Rappler, Louna’s father Leo said, “I want her to play for the Philippines. But I told her ultimately it will be up to her to decide whether she wants to play for the Philippines or France. She said she wants to choose the Philippines.”

In 2019, French NBA player Evan Fournier organized a youth training camp where Louna was named MVP. With her feat, she earned the opportunity to go to Orlando and watch NBA games live courtesy of Fournier. 

Louna has been on the radar of the Gilas women’s program beginning 2019. Gilas women’s national team coach Patrick Aquino raved about the upside of Louna. 

“When her father reached out to us, we were excited and thankful that someone from France wants to be a member of Gilas,” said Aquino. 

“We saw some videos of Louna and think she has a lot of potential for the future of the Gilas Pilipinas women’s team. Hoping everything will be ok soon so that we can invite her here and see more of what she can do to help the team.”

Louna could have made her Gilas debut in 2020. Arrangements were being made to have her carry the flag in 3×3 international competition. However, the pandemic got in the way of her maiden stint for the national team. 

 “We were supposed to get her to play in the Under-18 FIBA 3×3 World Cup in Hungary last year but things here were so bad that the SBP had to cancel our participation,” said Aquino.

Just recently, Louna saw action in the first ever French Open Junior League 3×3 Poitiers Futuroscope organized by the Fédération Française de BasketBall (FFBB), the basketball federation of France. Louna and her squad, Team Spicy Girls, emerged junior 3×3 national champions of France.

Louna has attracted interest from a number Philippine universities, but she has been locked in to a three-year contract which she recently signed with her ballclub ESB Villeneuve-d’Ascq Lille Metropole. Her father said it might only be a matter of time before Louna starts playing in the Division 2 of the professional league in France. 

It might also be just a matter of time before Louna finally wears a Philippine team jersey. She is a 5-foot-9 guard who is a dead-shot from outside and has the handles and the strength to also take it strong to the basket. Her unique combination of skill-set and size will make her a value-added component to the Gilas women’s national team program. – Rappler.com