Zoleta makes coaching debut

Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Bambi Zoleta will make her coaching debut in the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Asia Oceania Pre-Qualifying event in Colombia from 12 to 18 February.

Zoleta said she is honored to call the shots for the troika of Maristella Torrecampo, Ave Maria Policarpio and Mitchellen Alexa Cruspero in one of the prestigious international tournaments she used to compete in.

Zoleta said she is thrilled to share her experiences with her young wards.

"I used to play in 14-under and I played in this tournament before so it's a different feeling now that I'm coaching. This is my first time coaching abroad," said Zoleta, who flew with her team to Sri Lanka on Friday.

"We only had one week to prepare so this is less about how they hit the ball and more about how to win. How they will handle the pressure and what are their expectations is something I'm telling them."

Zoleta and her sister, Bien, used to compete in various age-group tennis tournaments before switching to soft tennis, where they found some measure of success, highlighted by gold medals in the 30th Southeast Asian Games.

Taking inspiration from national soft tennis head coach Michael Enriquez, Zoleta said keeping one's emotions in check is a lesson she is teaching to her players.

"This is different since they are representing the country. You're coaching them to win since the Philippines expects to take home a medal. There is pressure but I enjoy it,'" Zoleta said.