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Philippine volleyball coaching consultant Jorge Souza de Brito remained firm in his decision of not selecting national team mainstays Alyssa Valdez and Jia Morado for the upcoming tournaments.
Speaking at the Philippine Sportswriter’s Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday, September 14, Souza de Brito reasoned that he was looking to tap younger players in order to prepare for the future of Philippine volleyball.
“I think that we need some fresh blood, younger and taller players,” said the Brazilian coach, who was aware of the backlash from volleyball fans on social media.
“It’s good that everyone has access to social media. But it’s not why I made my decision. I respect them, but we, altogether the coaches, we try to do the best for the volleyball team [and] I think we made the best decision for the volleyball team.”
Souza de Brito also said he started scouting the players based on the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games performance and monitored the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) games during his hotel quarantine period.
In terms of age, Rhea Dimaculangan is the oldest team member at 30 years old, while Aby Maraño and Dindin Santiago-Manabat are both 28, the same age as Valdez.
Like Morado, Dell Palomata, Kat Tolentino, MJ Phillips, Majoy Baron, Kalei Mau, and Kianna Dy were born in 1995.
Both Valdez and Morado begged off from the national team tryouts held in April due to COVID-19 protocols, and only 16 players turned up for the event.
However, the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) eventually opened national team slots to Santiago-Manabat, Tolentino, Dy, Phillips, Mau, Dawn Macandili, Deanna Wong, and Tin Tiamzon, who did not attend the tryouts.
“It was out of my hands kasi hindi na ako namili (because I didn’t choose). With regards to selection, it’s done over, it’s done with,” said women’s volleyball head coach Odjie Mamon when asked about the selection of the tryout absentees.
The Philippines will be sending out two women’s volleyball squads to the Asian Club Volleyball Championships that will be held from October 1 to 7 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.
This will be the country’s first major volleyball tournament since the 2019 SEA Games as the team also looks forward to participate in the delayed Vietnam regional biennial meet, the Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in May 2022, and the 2022 Asian Games in September 2022. – Rappler.com
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