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Tag: Burke Toews

  • Burke Toews ready to build Gilas Pilipinas Women into Asian powerhouse

    Burke Toews ready to build Gilas Pilipinas Women into Asian powerhouse

    Veteran coach Burke Toews has taken the reins of the Philippine women’s national basketball team, with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) hoping his experience can help elevate the country’s program into one of Asia’s best.

     

    Toews arrives in the Philippines after more than a decade of building one of Japan’s premier women’s basketball programs. He most recently led the Fujitsu Red Wave to back-to-back titles before accepting the Gilas Pilipinas Women head coaching job.

     

    The 60-year-old coach said he took on the challenge because he believes there is more he wants to accomplish in the latter stages of his career—beyond simply adding more championships to his résumé.

     

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    “I really felt strongly that at this stage in my career, I still had some personal goals that were more than just championships,” Toews said in a recent media session.

     

    Toews believes Gilas Pilipinas Women have the potential to become one of Asia’s elite teams, but he stressed that his approach will not be a carbon copy of what he built in Japan.

    While he plans to draw from his extensive experience in the Japanese basketball system, Toews said the Philippines must develop its own identity around the strengths of its players.

     

    “We are using them, I won’t say as a blueprint. I don’t want to say that we can just bring what Japan does to the Filipino national team. You should not copy someone completely because you lose the essence of the players that you are coaching and what they do well,” Toews said.

     

    “I thought that the Philippines women’s had a really high ceiling. Not just because of what happened in the last few years with coach Pat Aquino and the success they had, but if things could be changed, not just on the court, but off the court, I thought that the Philippines could really get to the top tier and be a perennial contender.”

     

    Toews’ first major test will come in the upcoming FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where he will have several of the Philippines’ top talents at his disposal.

     

    Among the potential standouts are Gilas star Jack Animam, former NCAA Division I player Vanessa de Jesus and multiple-time UAAP Most Valuable Player Kacey Dela Rosa.

     

    For Toews, however, the goal extends beyond the immediate results. He wants to establish a clear identity for Gilas Pilipinas Women and build a sustainable program capable of competing at the highest level in Asia year after year.

     

    “We want to win while we are learning,” Toews said.

     

    With a proven track record in Japan and a strong belief in the Philippines’ potential, Toews now begins the task of turning Gilas Pilipinas Women into a consistent force on the Asian basketball stage.

     

     

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  • SBP turns to Japanese league champion Burke Toews to lead Gilas Women’s next era 

    SBP turns to Japanese league champion Burke Toews to lead Gilas Women’s next era 

    For the first time in more than a decade, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is handing the future of Gilas Pilipinas Women to a completely new voice.

     

    And it is a voice shaped far away from Philippine basketball.

     

    After months of quietly searching overseas for the right fit, the SBP officially named Burke Toews as the new head coach of the national women’s team, signaling the federation’s intent to push the program toward a more international direction.

     

    Toews arrives with a résumé built in Japan — one of Asia’s strongest basketball systems — where he spent the last decade establishing himself as one of the winningest coaches in the women’s professional game.

     

    The Canadian mentor recently wrapped up a highly successful run with the Fujitsu Red Wave, steering the club to back-to-back league championships in 2024 and 2025 while also capturing consecutive All-Japan titles.

     

    More importantly, his success was not built overnight.

     

    Across 10 seasons with Fujitsu, Toews transformed the Red Wave into a consistent title contender, leading the team to five finals appearances while earning three Coach of the Year awards along the way.

     

    Long before that, he also guided the Hyogo Storks to a JBL2 championship in 2013.

    Now, the challenge becomes entirely different.

     

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    Toews takes over a Gilas Women program entering a transition period after the end of the long tenure of Pat Aquino, who spent 12 years helping elevate the national team into a respected force in Southeast Asia.

     

    Under Aquino, Gilas Women produced some of the biggest milestones in program history, including a breakthrough appearance in the Women’s World Cup qualifiers in France and multiple strong finishes in regional competitions.

     

    But with Aquino now moving to the PBA as head coach of Blackwater Bossing, the federation chose to reset the direction of the program rather than simply continue the old system.

     

    According to the SBP, Toews emerged as the choice after an extensive global search involving more than a dozen applicants from different countries.

     

    The hiring also reflects the federation’s growing admiration for Japan’s basketball development model — a system known for discipline, player movement, and long-term continuity.

     

    Now, the responsibility of translating that success to the Philippine setup belongs to Toews.

     

    And with Gilas Women already coming off some of the biggest breakthroughs in its history, expectations may arrive much faster than the usual rebuilding process.

     

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