The defending champions De La Salle Lady Booters will be looking to add another trophy to their collection as they enter Season 81 of the UAAP. As the football tournament starts this February, the team is up and ready with its new lineup and a brand new formation to help defend the title once more. The LaSallian sat with team captain Kyra Dimaandal and discussed how this new edition of the Lady Booters would be different from the past few years.
Preparations for the season
The preceding offseason was another season of celebration and work for the DLSU Lady Booters, as they won last season’s UAAP championship for the second year in a row. However, even though they won the title, the Taft-based squad was immediately working toward the next season and yet again participated in the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Women’s League.
The winning tradition in the team is evident as they triumphed in the Women’s League with an undefeated record of eight wins and a single draw. This league also gave them the opportunity to try new formations and to make the needed adjustments. “We had a PFF Women’s League which helped us a lot. It enabled us to try new formations and to see the best fit. We were also able to make adjustments to the new players,” Dimaandal explained.
Furthermore, the team is bracing itself for a lot of changes especially with coach Hans still recovering from a heart procedure. With this, a lot has changed since they won the championship last season, “There has been a big change, even from the formation itself. Also, since coach Hans’ rest from surgery, it’s been hard trying to maintain his style of play. We try to keep it but we also have to make adjustments to make up for the lapses,” Dimaandal explained.
Filling the gaps
With regard to the lineup of the team, however, the Lady Booters did not lose a lot of players. Nonetheless, with Dimaandal’s former co-captain Nicole Andaya and two-time MVP Kyla Inguig, having graduated from the UAAP, there is a big gap that the team has to make up for.
Luckily, the Lady Booters produced a lot of rookies that will fill the gap left wide open by Andaya and Inguig. “This year was our most number of rookies. Ten to be exact, where two of them are in the first 11.”
The team captain also has another goal to achieve this year aside from achieving the three-peat feat. Dimaandal explained that since majority of them—eight of them to be exact—are to play their last playing year this Season 81, they wanted to make sure that they leave the team, consisting mostly of rookies, confident about themselves, “Other than bagging the title, we want the players to grow and develop new skills in and out of the field.”
Despite the big changes, Dimaandal is sure that they are still the champions people know in the UAAP. Thus, for obvious reasons, leaving empty handed is not an option for the Lady Booters. Moreover, formation changes and losing a number of key players will not affect their aspirations—to win the elusive three-peat, which will further cement their legacy in the history of La Salle sports.
