Janine Ricalde Pontejos (born October 29, 1992) is a Filipino former professional basketball player and current basketball coach. She has represented the Philippine national team in international competitions.

Playing career

College

Janine Pontejos is noted as a homegrown player who have never played in the

University Athletic Association of the Philippines The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univ ...

(UAAP) basketball championship. She first took up basketball growing up with her siblings in

Lemery, Batangas Lemery, officially the Municipality of Lemery (), is a municipality in the province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 93,186 people. Lemery is a growing urban center in western Batangas. The munic ...

. Her first competitive experience in the sport was as a varsity player of

De La Salle Lipa De La Salle Lipa, also known by its acronym DLSL, is a private Catholic Lasallian basic and higher educational institution run by the De La Salle Brothers of the Philippine District of the Christian Brothers in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines ...

. She part of both the school's athletics and basketball team. She later transferred to the

Centro Escolar University Centro Escolar University (; ), commonly referred to as CEU, is a private, non-sectarian, coeducational institution of higher education located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1907 by Librada Avelino and Carmen de Luna, CEU is recognized a ...

and became part of the CEU Lady Scorpions. With the Lady Scorpions, she was named MVP for four times in the

Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association The Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA) is an athletic association in the Philippines exclusively for women. It was founded in 1970. Competition is divided into three divisions: Seniors for college students, Juniors for high s ...

(WNCAA) and her team dominated the

National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities The National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) is an athletic association of colleges and universities in the Philippines. It was established in 2001. NAASCU sports are men's, women's and junior's basketball, men ...

(NAASCU).

Club

Pontejos has played in the

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is a professional women's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Australia composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the Women's sports, women's counterpart to the Na ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. In its first season in 2019, Pontejos led the Taguig Lady Generals to a second place finish and she was named as season MVP. In the 2022 season, she helped the Philippine Army Lady Battalions clinch the WNBL title.

National team

Pontejos has played for the Philippine national team. She was a part of the Philippines national 3x3 side which took part in the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup which was hosted in

Bocaue, Bulacan Bocaue , officially the Municipality of Bocaue (), is a municipality in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 141,412 people. Among its tourist attractions are a town museum located near th ...

. As an individual, she won the gold medal in that tournament's shoot-out competition. She has suited up for the team in the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, were the 30th edition of the SEA Games, Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport ...

where she won two gold medals; as part of the traditional 5-a-side team and the 3x3 national team. She also played for the country at the 2019 William Jones Cup.

Coaching career

As of 2021, Pontejos is part of the CEU Lady Scorpions staff as an assistant coach. In 2024, she became the head coach of the Scorpions leading them to a

(WNCAA) title. The Scorpions joined the inaugural tournament of the

Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Women's Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (WMPBL) is a women's professional basketball league in the Philippines consisting of fourteen teams. It serves as the women's counterpart of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). T ...

in 2025.

Personal life

Pontejos joined the

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

in 2020. She holds the rank of Private First Class as of 2022. She has a degree in business administration from CEU.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontejos, Janine 1992 births Living people Competitors at the 2017 SEA Games Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games Filipino women's basketball players Philippines women's national basketball team players SEA Games medalists in basketball SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines Centro Escolar University alumni Basketball players from Batangas Competitors at the 2021 SEA Games Competitors at the 2023 SEA Games SEA Games medalists in 3x3 basketball SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines Basketball players at the 2022 Asian Games Filipino women's basketball coaches