MIAMI (United States) - The 2021 South American Women's League seeks to elevate women’s basketball at all levels, which goes hand-in-hand with one of FIBA's main strategic pillars.

The tournament will be played from March 18 to April 10, with the participation of 12 teams from South America. The competition will host just over 120 players and will also have nine women referees in attendance. This effort shows the growth that women have had in all areas of basketball.

Vander Lobosco, a referee manager at FIBA, says the women have been working hard in preparation of this tournament as they want to make sure they’re fair and accurate on the court.

"When we make nominations for the games we do it based on the quality of the referee, not on their gender. All of the women who are working in the South American League have been doing a great job," said Lobosco.

The nine women in the event were distributed within three groups. In Group B play, which began this Thursday in Medellín, Colombia, are Samanta Fiallos Peralvo (ECU) and Carol García (COL). In Group C, which will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from March 25 to 27, María Claudia Comodaro (BRA) and Mariajesus González (CHI).

In Group A play, scheduled from April 1-3, in Santiago, Chile, only women will participate in all the games, with Aline García (URU), María Sanabria (PAR), Micaela Prado (ARG), Romina Morales (ARG), Virginia Peruchini (ARG) and Comodaro.

"This competition shows that we are further integrating women into our sport, which is one of the main pillars for FIBA. This would not be possible without the support of the national federations, which have worked hard to develop this league. The women have grown because they have also had opportunities in their own country’s leagues. Thanks to that experience, they have been able to get to where they are," explained Lobosco.

Most of the nominees in the South American League, regularly perform functions in the main men's leagues of their respective nations. Garcia (COL), Peruchini, Prado, and Paola Cuello (DOM) also officiated in the last window of the Basketball Champions League Americas.

In the FIBA ​​AmeriCup 2022 Qualifiers, Brazilian Andrea Silva and Canadian Maripier Malo were in attendance.

"We are in a great moment in which there is a lot of opportunity. We want to develop referees and especially women. Regardless of gender, whoever wants to practice this career should only think like a professional," said Lobosco.

FIBA