SEVEN teams, including defending champion Philippines, will compete for the coveted title in the MsIG Serenity Cup.
Organizers said this after unveiling on Tuesday, their new title sponsor, MsIG, a health insurance company.
MsIG is a member of the MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc., one of the world’s largest non-life insurance groups by gross revenues in the ASEAN region.
Indonesia, four-time winner Thailand and three-time title-holders Vietnam and Cambodia will also be around to fight for the top honors.
Other teams joining are Myanmar, Singapore and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinalists Australia, which is a new AFF member.
The Philippines is bringing in a team with experienced professionals joining the roster this year.
One of them is Fil-American booter Jaime Turrentine, who was among those called up for the Filipinas back in 2013. Turrentine is a left back and plays as a defender for Portuguese side Vitória SC.
Other members of the team are longtime PH team members Sarina Bolden, Olivia and Chandler McDaniel, Inna Palacios, Hali Long and Quinley Quezada.
The Filipinas are also building up for their coming campaign in the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers and the Southeast Asian Games later this year.
Most of the players are collegiate athletes, with some coming from the US NCAA Division 1, led by Maysen Veronda, a sophomore playing for the Texas A&M Aggies as a goalkeeper.
Other college stars in the team are defender Nya Harrison, an alumni of the Stanford Cardinals women’s soccer program and was in a Pac-12 championship in 2022, and Malia Cerdon, taken in as a defender for the Filipinas and was once part of the Abilene Christian Women’s soccer team in US NCAA Division 1.
