THE future of the national women’s volleyball remains in limbo. DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG @tribunephl_dvd

After a disastrous finish in the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the program of the national women’s volleyball team hangs in balance as the Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas, Inc. (LVPI) remains clueless on its next tournament.

LVPI president Joey Romasanta yesterday admitted that they have yet to map out their program for the women’s squad for 2019, including the identification of international tournaments where it can compete.

The failure of the women’s squad to hit its goal of winning a medal in the SEA Games had put the federation under fire.

In fact, the organizers of the Premier Volleyball League slammed the LVPI for having no long-term plan for the volleybelles, who are working hard to regain their supremacy in the SEA Games that they last tasted in 1993.

Romasanta admitted that they have yet to discuss what’s in store for the national women’s squad.

“We haven’t talked about the future of the team,” Romasanta admitted in a telephone conversation.

“I think we will start tackling it after Christmas or maybe at the start of the year.”

Based on the calendar of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), the 2020 would be a very busy year despite the staging of the Tokyo Olympics.

The prestigious AVC Women’s Club Volleyball Championship is set from 2 to 9 May in Tianjin, China while the AVC Cup for Women is set from 19 to 26 September in Taipei.

The 2nd AVC Women’s Challenge Cup in Hong Kong from 24 to 30 August as well as various age-group tourneys like the 20th Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championship in Chongqing, China from 22 to 29 June, 13th Asian Women’s U17 Volleyball Championship in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand from 5 to 12 September and the Princess Cup 14th Southeast Asian Women’s U17 Volleyball Championship at the same venue from 29 to 2 September.

Romasanta said they haven’t plotted their next move yet, although there is a chance that head coach Shaq Delos Santos as well as his assistants in Kungfu Reyes and Brian Esquibel be retained.

“We are planning to retain the team and we also want to tap new players. But as of now, the calendar is not yet finalized,” Romasanta, the first vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, said.

“We need to re-asses what we might and what we should have for the benefit of the program.”

Despite being boosted with international exposure, including a two-week training in Tokyo, the Nationals still fell below their target of emerging with their first SEA Games medal since the 23rd edition in Manila in 2005.

They opened their campaign with a five-set loss to Vietnam followed by a three-set clobbering from reigning champion Thailand. Then, they were beaten anew by Indonesia in four sets before succumbing to the same foe in a heart-stopping five-set battle in the battle for bronze.

Romasanta stressed that they are looking at storming back in the next edition of the Games in Hanoi in 2021.

“Rest assured that we will be providing them with necessary things to prepare them for the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam,” he said.

“But right now, we can’t say what will happen in the future of the team.”