Solar Strikers throw hat into PFF Women’s League

Capital1 — the squad that is synonymous to sports excellence — seeks glory on the football pitch when it competes in the PFF Women’s League this year.

Solar Strikers co-team owner Milka Romero said they are joining the country’s top football club league as her way of giving back to the sport that she used to play in college.

Aside from Romero and her sister, Mandy, also present during the team’s press launch were Philippine Football Federation (PFF) president John Gutierrez and PFF women’s football administrator Belay Fernando-Dela Cruz.

“It has always been my dream to give back to the football community that helped shape me in the past 20 years of being an athlete,” said Romero, the daughter of sportsman Mikee Romero who used to skipper the Ateneo de Manila University football team in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

“I want to empower women in sports because we have so much talent waiting for the right opportunity to excel.”

“It’s time to help the next generation reach their dreams, and I’m excited to be part of that journey.”

Leading the way for Capital1 in the PFF Women’s League are Judie Arevalo, Regine Rebosura and Yasmin Elauria of Far Eastern University, Lyka Teves of De La Salle University, Regine Rebosura and Hazel Lustan of Manila Digger FC.

Emma Young and Arianna del Moral will be the club’s foreign recruits as the Solar Strikers look to make an immediate impact in the Women’s League.

Young played in Mississippi College while Del Moral played for Birkirkara FC in Malta where she even played in the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2023.

Former national team head coach Let Dimzon, who led Kaya to its first PFF Women’s League title, said she will need to implement her system as they just started training last Monday at the Far Eastern University Diliman Football Field.

She will also bank on her familiarity with the players as most of them played in the UAAP.

“What we need is how to implement the system since they came from different schools. We just started training last Monday,” Dimzon said.

“I know all the layers because I saw them play with their respective universities. I know their skills and their capabilities. That’s why I mentioned that I am confident that they will perform well during the competition.”

More than just fielding a competitive team, Mandy said this is their way of helping women’s football grow in the Philippines.

“As we mark our first year in women’s volleyball with the Capital1 Solar Spikers, we are more committed than ever to expanding opportunities for Filipina athletes,” Mandy said.

“That’s why we’re stepping into professional women’s football — not just to build a team, but to be part of the movement pushing women’s sports forward,” she added.