After having her return to the team only recently announced, Cocolife’s captain Michele Gumabao has surprised Filipino fans on her personal Instagram page by stating that she is leaving the team to pursue a modeling career. She will take part in the Binibining Pilipinas 2018 pageant, a famous beauty contest in The Philippines. This comes as a hard blow for Cocolife, which only recently signed a new coach and reinforcements for its 2018 season.
The team stated that it did what it could to keep Michele on its roster, but that in the end, it respects and supports her decision. Here is Joshua Ylaya’s, Cocolife’s general manager, statement on the matter:
It is with a heavy heart that Michele Gumabao will no longer be part of this team. Michele has been a tremendous captain, leading our new but resilient team to a couple of 5th place finishes and a semi-final berth. Our journey with her has been nothing short of amazing. However, it has come to a point where the goals of the club and Ms. Gumabao’s are no longer aligned. We have tried our best to find a compromise with what she wants and what the club needs. We at UVC-Cocolife will continue to support her in her future endeavors as she tries to reach her dreams.
Michele, who is American-born, is 25 years old and rose to fame after she led De La Salle University two three consecutive Philippine college titles. This will not be the first time that she has left the sport to pursue a modeling/acting career, as in 2014 she departed AirAsia Flying Spiker’s squad to participate in the Philippine edition of Big Brother.
Here is how she broke the news to her 250k+ Instagram followers:
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