Mau Belen: Carrying the torch for Filipina hoops coaches

When coach Maureen Kris Belen speaks, she demands attention.

She does so not by explicitly asking for it, but by the way she conveys the ideas and beliefs she stands for. Her ability to articulate her thoughts, earnest and assiduous, exemplifies someone self-assured because she knows what she brings to the table. 

“We are not here to compete against men. We simply want to be seen,” Belen told Rappler.

“We give the same effort. So there really is no competition because we are playing the same sport that we all love.”

This quiet confidence has been forged by fire after years of struggling to gain access to the mainstream basketball scene, an environment that has always been male-dominated.

Now she has her foot in the door after she was recruited by comebacking TNT mentor Chot Reyes to be part of the KaTropa coaching staff.

According to TNT team manager Gabby Cui, Belen will first serve an “internship” and work on video and statistics for the team.

If she delivers, Belen will officially join the TNT coaching staff, becoming the first woman to work in a coaching capacity for a PBA franchise.

Paving the way

Making history obviously brings with it so much attention. The requests for interviews by different media outlets have been overwhelming for Belen, who admitted she is not accustomed to the spotlight.

But at the same time, she knows this opportunity to prove herself in the PBA comes with a responsibility that is bigger than herself. 

“I never wanted to make this about myself. I want to be judged not by the media articles about me but by the work I put in,” she explained.

“But since I am here, I am willing to be the guinea pig to test if this will work. Because if I can get in the house, I know it could also open doors for other girls.”

Hers is a tale of tenacity and ingenuity, of trying to find other ways to get in if the gates are locked or worse, slammed on her face. It is also a story of marginalization all too common among women in sports who experience being looked down and even being viewed as inferior by virtue of their gender. 

She has missed out on coaching gigs despite having paid her dues and coming in with credentials bolstered by attending numerous seminars and workshops from local and internationally-renowned coaches, all because the decision-makers went with the safe choice of giving the coaching reins to men. 

Earning a spot

Belen has had to go out of her way to ask for a shot to coach.

Two years ago, she was watching a cousin play in an interdepartmental league of the Philippine National Police. Noticing that the other team did not have a coach, she approached them and offered her services. She ended up leading that team – made up of male police officers and personnel – to the finals.

The narrative is similar to that of Liz Mills, who made headlines as the first woman to coach and lead a men’s national team to a major FIBA continental tournament.

In 2011 while on a trip to Zambia, Mills approached the president of a club in the men’s league and asked if she could coach the team. She was given an hour to prove herself. Mills ended up coaching the entire season and bagging the championship for her club.

Belen shared that Mills, now the head coach of the Kenya men’s national basketball team, is an inspiration to her.

When Belen recently posted on Twitter that she was hoping to follow in the footsteps of Mills and other powerful women, Mills reposted the tweet with the caption, “Awesome! Keep up the good work.” Belen was elated.

“It’s women supporting women. I watched a clip of coach Mills, in her high-heeled leather boots, with all the intensity and emotion, and you see 6’7, 6’8 men listening to her attentively during the huddle. It was a very powerful image for me.”

Determined to teach

From Belen’s own experiences, there were moments she could sense doubts and hesitation from the boys and the men that she had coached. It was something she never took against them. Instead, it was a fuel she used to find ways to show what she is capable of and connect more with them.

“I would tell them: ‘You don’t have to look at me. Just listen to my voice. Just know that I will not teach you anything that will be bad for you.'”

The persistence in finding her own place in the world of coaching emanates from her genuine love of basketball, and a sincere desire to find a platform that will help her touch the lives of other people.

Her entire life has been spent playing, then studying, appreciating, and understanding the game. Belen said that as early as her college days, she knew she already found her calling.

“My driving force was always the desire to teach kids, teenagers, and even adults the importance of sports in their lives. The discipline, the character building. If I could teach 10 to 15 people in a year and help them become better people, then that would be a big achievement for me,” Belen said.

As Belen begins a journey that no woman has ever embarked on, she brings with her the hopes and aspirations of other women who are also trying to make their own mark in the sporting world.

There exists a glass ceiling for women in the PBA, whether the powers-that-be and fans admit it or not. It will take a special kind of woman to breach that glass ceiling.

Fortunately for everyone who stands for parity rights and a level playing field, Belen is special. And this is why she has been tasked to carry the torch for Filipina hoops coaches. – Rappler.com