MANILA, Philippines – Alyssa Valdez hopes that she can finally taste a podium finish in the international stage as the Philippine women’s volleyball team gears up early for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. 

“Our goal po talaga this year is maging proud ang mga kababayan namin, hindi lang dahil lumaban tayo pero nanalo tayo and nagkaroon tayo ng medalya sa bansa,” said Valdez. 

(Our goal this year is for our countrymen to be proud, not just because we fought hard, but because we won and we are able to bag a medal for the country.) 

From the national team tryouts, Larong Volleyball Pilipinas Inc (LVPI) looks to form a training pool of 20 players for the senior team that will see action in two tournaments before the regional biennial meet. 

The AVC Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship is set in China from April 20 to 28, while the 20th Asian Senior Women’s Championship in South Korea  is slated from August 31 to September 8. 

The national federation is also planning a series of international training camps. 

LVPI president Peter Cayco revealed that the team has a scheduled camp in Japan prior to the Asian Senior’s tournament in August, but the management is arranging one more camp in June. 

“I think it’s a good start, it’s a good sign na mas matagal na pinaghahandaan, so mas makikita natin na mas seryoso yung team, mas seryoso yung lahat ng part na bumubuo ng national team na ito and hopefully maganda rin yung kalabasan,” said Valdez. 

“Sabi nga nila na: ‘Preparation is the key’ naman sa lahat ng success sa mga pinagdadaanan nila.” 

(I think it’s a good start, it’s a good sign that we have longer preparations, so we’ll be able to see how serious the team is, how serious the people behind the national team are and hopefully the results will be good. As they say: ‘Preparation is the key’ in all success stories.) 

After the team finished 8th in the 2018 Asian Games and 9th in the 2018 Asian Women’s Volleyball Cup, the former Ateneo star hopes for a steady and continuous national team program similar to that of Southeast Asian volleyball powerhouses Thailand and Vietnam. 

“Kung may programa, magtuloy-tuloy lang yung improvement, magtutuloy lang yung jelling ng team. Eh every after tournament na napuputol. Lagi kami nagststart from scratch which is medyo nahihirapan din to build a team nang maayos,” lamented Valdez. 

(If there is a program, then there will be continuous improvement, the team will continue to jell. After every tournament, the program gets cut. We always have to start from scratch and it becomes difficult for us to properly build a good team.) – Rappler.com