By MARK REY MONTEJO
Alas Pilipinas women’s volleyball team head coach Jorge Souza de Brito said they will try to stick with the current roster as it guns for an impressive performance in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December.
The Brazilian coach said this after the team’s breakthrough silver-medal finish in the 2025 AVC Women’s Volleyball Nations Cup in Vietnam, and he hopes to sustain that momentum heading to the biennial regional meet.
“Whenever we’re reading with 25 players, we’re trying to keep this 25 as well, until we identified (the lineup) for SEA Games,” said De Brito during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday, June 17.
De Brito believes the team has a bright chance in future international tournaments including the SEA Games, knowing that their recent achievement in Vietnam served as an extra boost in their goal to improve their competitiveness.
“Of course, we’re going to fight for this. We know each other, we played with pride, and it’s gonna be hard but we’re going to work for it,” de Brito said. “One I can say to our team, we’re just starting the process, the best is yet to come.”
The last time a PH women’s volleyball won a SEA Games medal was in 2005 Manila edition where the Nationals bagged the bronze. Its last silver came in 1997 Jakarta meet, and the last gold medal in 1993 Singapore.
Interestingly after PH won that gold medal, Thailand seized the throne the following edition and held on to it since then.
De Guzman hopes to bring that old glory back.
“Since past is past, what do we do now, di ba? Moving forward, we keep sticking to the program, because if we do, I have no doubt that one day we’ll reach that level also,” said De Guzman.
“Hindi naman ibig sabihin na like nauuna sila, hindi na sila mahahabol… they recognized the Philippines is growing, we have to take advantage of that because they considered as a threat,” she added.
The Nationals aim to further grow by continuing to compete in tournaments. In fact, they are scheduled to play in the 2025 VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup in Vĩnh Phúc, Vietnam later this month, and SEA V League in the following weeks.
