WANTED: NEW COACH

The Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) is pressing the reset button following the looming departure of Brazilian coach Jorge Edson de Brito from the national women’s team.

PNVF national team commission chief Tonyboy Liao revealed that the women’s squad will undergo a complete makeover in a bid to be more competitive in the international stage.

Aside from having a new coach, there will also be a new set of players who will represent the country in key international events like the continental tourneys and the 32nd Southeast Asian Games next year.

“The new coach will make his new pool that will stay together until next year’s SEA Games,” Liao, also the chairman of the Premier Volleyball League, said.

De Brito made some strides as head coach of the national women’s team.

After getting appointed as national coach in July 2021, the Olympic gold medalist helped the Filipinas climb the International Volleyball Federation ranking from No. 117 to No. 63, thanks to their consistent performance in the international arena.

Unfortunately, the federation opted to let him go as his style is more suited to countries with taller players.

“He’s a good coach but the problem is (that) his style is for tall players like Brazil,” said Liao, referring to the mentor whose contract will lapse on 30 June.

Despite De Brito’s presence, the Filipinas failed to enter the podium of the SEA Games with the group of Alyssa Valdez and Tots Carlos finishing fourth in Cambodia in 2021.

“The attempt is always to make a competitive team that can present modern volleyball using as parameters the performances of the best teams in the world and obviously those closest to our local reality, Southeast Asia,” said De Brito, who wants to finish his stint by sharing his experience to players competing in the AVC Challenge Cup.

“This would reflect a medium to long-term work that I dedicated myself to from the beginning, having seen the lineup initially created by Coach Odjie (Mamon) and then we tried to maintain and improve, but with many difficulties.”