These Blu Girls don't mind being an all-local grew. They are embracing it, in fact.
Let it be known: The Philippine Blu Girls are an all-Filipino squad going to the XVII WBSC Women’s Softball World Cup.
Yes, this squad is made up of pure-blooded Filipinas—every single one of them. And they would like to keep it that way.
“As of now, ang sinasabi nung mga coaches namin, after nine years, all locals na po uli ‘yung naglalaro, so parang pinaka-pride na po ‘yung pinaglalaban namin dito. Sa tingin naman po namin, parang hindi naman po kelangan ng Fil-Ams,” Blu Girls infielder Elsie Dela Torre told Noli Eala in the latter’s Power and Play podcast on Saturday.
Charlotte Sales, who plays first base for the Blu Girls, echoed the sentiments of Dela Torre, who plays third base. In fact, she believes being an all-local team is actually a big advantage.
“’Yung communication po namin [biggest strength of being an all-Filipina squad] kasi all locals po kami. Mas madali kaming nagkaka-intindihan. Minsan, magtitinginan lang kami, alam mo na ‘yung dapat gawin,” explained Sales. “Ganun po talaga pag all locals kaya masayang-masaya po kami na kami ‘yung pinapunta [in South Korea], na lahat kami Filipino.
That all-Filipino squad did quite all right in South Korea, posting 5 wins as against 3 losses—including an upset of the hosts. The Blu Girls also showed they could hang with the world’s best, giving both China (ranked 11th by the World Baseball Softball Confederation) and Chinese-Taipei (ranked 3rd) a spirited fight before losing steam in the end.
On the horizon for these Blu Girls is the second group stage of the World Cup, where they will be facing 5 teams currently in the top 30 of the WBSC rankings.
That, however, is not the only tournament the Blu Girls are looking at. According to Dela Torre, their first order of business is to reign supreme once more in the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia this coming May. The Blu Girls also have their sights set on the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China in September.
And if things go as planned, the Blu Girls will remain an all-local crew for those two tournaments—and all the way to the World Cup proper if they make it that far.