Amazing!!! I am totally in love with these ladies! And I am back to watching ladies volleyball after a self-imposed absence for almost a decade.
The Philippine National Volleyball Ladies Team, fondly called Alas Pilipinas, snared the bronze medal in the recently-concluded 2024 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenge Cup, to the pleasant surprise of hordes of volleyball fanatics at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. This is the first podium finish for a national volleyball squad since the early 2000s, after a decade of being sadly embroiled in sports politics. Hastily organized despite the fact that the country was hosting the event, this unit paraded a great mix which combined veteran savvy with youthful talent and exuberance, capturing the hearts of an adoring fandom that is growing by leaps and bounds.
What is there not to fall in love with these ladies? They were formed minus the more ballyhooed stars from the biggest, baddest, most popular squad in the country, the Creamline Cool Smashers. Coming from different teams, with different styles and different coaching philosophies. They dared to do battle against better]-rated national teams with just 2 weeks of preparation. (Yes, sports fans, it’s no secret that our National Sports Associations or NSAs still have this bad habit of preparing late. Providing little support and little time for our athletes to jell. To try to cut down on costs, is it? And when the results are favorable, these NSA reps are conveniently right out there basking in glory with our athletes.) On top of that, our volleybelles accepted the challenge of representing the country, risking life and limb, allegedly for a measly 15K allowance!
Despite all these tiny nuisances that could have easily discouraged other players, these ladies braved the obstacles and hunkered on. They didn’t mind the possibility of embarrassing themselves, having had very minimal practice together. They didn’t care if they got injured. They didn’t fret about billings and playing times and the like. They still chose to play. For the love of the game, and for love of country. Who can fault that?
And so, I salute these young ladies. Heroines in my book. Lovely ones at that. Chill too. It was so enjoyable to see the charming innocence, the unabashed cheers, the giddy excitement and laughter, the supportive huddles and hugs, the funny poses, and the tiktok dances(!!!), as this youthful group tried to hide whatever inner doubts they had with silly, giggly, gurly stuff. Exuding pure childlike joy. Providing sweet comfort for the heart. And reminding us of poignant memories of our youth.
Before this tourney’s bronze medal finish, the Philippine ladies’ volleyball side had long struggled in its international forays. Our Philippine women’s volleyball squad placed 4th in the 1966 Asian Games campaign, almost taking the bronze medal home. In the Southeast Asian Games, our ladies last bagged the volleyball gold way back in 1993 in Singapore. Our last podium appearance in the SEA Games was a bronze finish in 2005.
And then we had the dark age of Philippine volleyball. A leadership crisis between the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) and a POC-created Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc (LVPI) – a self-inflicted wound, if you will – caused so much confusion and massive demoralization among players and fans, resulting in the lack of good international results for Philippine Volleyball during the period 2005 to 2016. Today, with the neophyte Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) taking over the reins of leadership, we hope that it strives to rid itself of any vestige of the old dirty sports politics that has been the bane of Philippine sports. And forming the team only 2 weeks prior to an international competition – one which we ourselves were to host – is certainly not a step in the right direction, PNVF.
This bronze medal finish then is a gift that must be celebrated. Hopefully, it signals the start of a new era for Philippine Volleyball. An era of hope and inspiration for future generations. An era that will bring in professional management and scientific development for our players. An era that will usher in a generation of more disciplined, more professional and more accomplished Filipino athletes that will bring the country to greater heights.
Jia Morada De Guzman, team captain and adjudged Best Setter of the recently-concluded AVC Challenge Cup quipped: “We’re really hopeful, we’re looking forward to more preparations for the upcoming tournaments that we will play in.” She articulated the dream of our players. Just imagine what the squad could have accomplished with better preparation and longer jelling and practice time, if a 2-week prep time alone had given them a bronze.
Jia provided the veteran leadership and smarts, distributing the attack among her many potent hitters. Also there to provide veteran savvy on the defense was the diminutive but solid Dawn Macandili-Katindig, who took the lead role in the heroic back row defense against the team’s taller, more powerful attackers. Sisi Rondina, bemedalled outside hitter from the Choco Mucho Flying Titans, was the 3rd veteran. She elected to join the team at short notice, despite having just finished an exhausting marathon championship series in the Premiere Volleyball League (PVL).
Jia and Dawn, plus Sisi, were the 3 veterans who guided this youth group to victory. (Courtesy of Rappler/PVL)
The youngsters, lookers all, were led by Angel Canino, adjudged Best Opposite Hitter in the tourney; with equally-dangerous hitters Eya Laure, Vanessa Gandler, Faith Nisperos and Ara Panique. Manning the frontcourt were middle blockers Fifi Sharma, Thea Gagate, Cherry Nunag and Dell Palomata; while setter Julia Coronel ably supported Jia; and Jen Nierva backstopped for Dawn at the libero position. Everyone cheered for each other, clearly showing a teamwork and camaraderie that was achieved miraculously despite only 2 weeks of getting to know each other.
The next gen stars of Philippine women’s volleyball, mean game with stunning looks. (pics courtesy of Tiebreaker Times, Abante, One Sports, PVL, Inquirer Sports and Suara Merdeka Jakarta)
Of course, credit must also go to the Brazilian coach, Jorge Souza De Brito, whose patience and dedication – despite the constraints – steered the team to that victorious ride. Winning five of their six games despite having only 2 weeks to develop teamwork, De Brito humbly gave credit to his hard-working staff, aside from his players.
Jia epitomized the character, the humility and unity of the team, always parrying the individual praises in favor of the overall team effort that strengthened each other ten-fold. In a team game like volleyball, nothing beats a team with all its members tightly knit and in sync.
If there is one big lesson to be learned from the glorious journey taken by our Alas Pilipinas girls, it is the need for unity of purpose, dedication and teamwork to enhance the individual talents of our players. Individual talent is important, but these individual talents, when stitched together, will form a strong bond that will bring in that elusive crown. As you strive for the team’s success, always strive first to achieve unity and teamwork.
To our Alas Pilipinas ladies, my complete admiration! Thank you for making me a volleyball fan once again.
Cover photo courtesy of Rappler/Premiere Volleyball League. Other pics courtesy of YouTube, Inquirer.net, The Manila Times, Tiebreaker Times, Facebook, Phil Star, Bombo Radyo Tuguegarao, X and the Premiere Volleyball League. For a closer look, just click on the pics.
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