Volley pools may change
National Team Department chairman Tonyboy Liao said the other day the Philippine National Volleyball Federation Inc. (PNVFI) Executive Board will meet tomorrow to discuss several issues, including the composition of the pools for women and men in the indoor and beach games.
Since only 16 of 40 invitees showed up for the recent one-day tryouts of the women’s indoor team in Subic and the plan is to submit 20 players for the pool to receive allowances from PSC, those who missed the camp may still be considered.
For men, 37 of 40 invitees attended the indoor trials. In beach volleyball, 16 of 20 invitees tried out for women and 17 of 20 for men. Liao said PSC will support a pool of 20 for men and women each in indoor and 10 for men and women each in beach.
“For women’s indoor, we’re bringing in Brazilian coach Jorge Edson Souza De Brito,” he said. “His papers are being finalized and we’re hoping he can arrive by July. Coach Odjie Mamon and his staff will be De Brito’s assistants.
He has already asked for tapes of our games and a list of those who attended the tryouts. For sure, he’ll notice some players like Alyssa Valdez not on the list of those who joined the tryouts. Of the 16, eight are young players being groomed for our youth and junior teams. We’re allowed to change players in the PSC pool for as long as we don’t exceed the limit of 20.” The National Team Commission composed of 11 members was set to meet yesterday to sort out what to present to the Executive Board. PNVFI president Tats Suzara is co-chairman of the Commission and among the members are Mayor Richard Gomez as secretary, Mamon, Mike Verano and Charo Soriano.
“Several women’s players couldn’t go to the tryouts because of different reasons,” said Liao. “One player’s mother just died, another was in quarantine, a few were sick. Kalei Mau begged off but will be back with F2 in the PVL. Because we’re short of the pool of 20, we’ll consider players who didn’t attend the tryouts. But this will be up to the Commission, Executive Board and coach De Brito.”
Liao said Jaja Santiago has committed to play for the Philippines in the coming Hanoi SEA Games and went to the tryouts. Her sister Dindin initially said she would attend the Subic camp but later called in sick. “If Jaja considers the offer to be a naturalized player for Japan, she’ll need to undergo two years of residency and get clearance from PNVFI and FIVB,” said Liao.
The Executive Board is also expected to discuss the possibility of the Philippines hosting the Asian Women’s Championships in August. “China was the original host but withdrew and we were asked by the Asian Volleyball Confederation if we could host instead,” Liao noted. “We could do it in Subic or Clark but it will depend on IATF approval.”