TITA MOZZY: Ravena’s motherly love energizes Akari

Mozzy Ravena is not just a team manager for the women’s volleyball club Akari Chargers.

Her work doesn’t just involve recruiting and signing players to make the team competitive, managing the squad’s day-to-day activities, and making sure the club performs to management’s expectations.

For Tita Mozzy, as she is fondly called inside the tight-knit Philippine volleyball community, she takes her role with a motherly touch.

“I make sure that I treat them the way I treat my children,” said the mother of accomplished basketball stars Kiefer and Thirdy and Chargers top libero Dani.

“In a way, I would humbly say that I guided my kids to be achievers, so I want to do the same with the team.”

Under her guidance, the Chargers have turned into a legitimate title contender in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) just two years since the club’s establishment.

In fact, Akari challenged the mighty Creamline in the 2024 Reinforced Conference finals.

Although the squad eventually lost to the more experienced and star-studded Cool Smashers in straight sets, the Chargers accomplished an amazing feat in just their sixth tournament and first-ever playoffs stint in the country’s first and only women’s professional volleyball league.

Achievements aside, Tita Mozzy is happy working in the background and seeing her “children” mature inside the court and in life.

“I’m learning a lot. Sometimes you feel like a winner because you help players with different personalities understand things as their mentor. Although sometimes you’ll feel frustrated because they have a different interpretation of the message you want to convey from what you’re saying,” she said.

“Just like a parent, it’s like having a bunch of kids with different personalities so you approach them differently.”

Dream job

A former varsity player, a veteran game analyst, tournament director of the men’s volleyball league Spikers’ Turf, mother of three sports standouts, and better half for former Philippine Basketball Association star and now TNT official Bong Ravena, Tita Mozzy has already accomplished a lot in life.

But there’s always one dream job the 54-year-old double-degree holder wanted to put a check on her bucket list: Managing a club volleyball team.

“Before there were coaching offers from NCAA and UAAP schools but I really don’t see myself as a coach. I know I don’t have the talent and expertise for that role. But as a manager, that’s what I dream of,” she said.

Akari gave her that opportunity in 2022.

“I want to help the volleyball community, the players, coaches, and staff get employed and I envision a team I want to build. That’s why I said yes when they asked me to be Akari’s team manager,” she added.

Tita Mozzy’s relationship with Akari started when her son Kiefer, who was then playing for Ateneo de Manila University, was invited to attend the company’s chief executive officer Christopher Tiu’s child’s seventh birthday.

Kiefer became an endorser for the company, which by that time was slowly opening its gates to supporting sports.

“They started supporting Adamson basketball first, then they were invited to sponsor the volleyball team. They consulted me about it, and I told them, ‘okay, I’ll help you.’ They were actually hiring me, but I told them I couldn’t since I still had other commitments then,” Tita Mozzy said.

“I’m just helping them when they hired coach Air (Padda) and then coach Tai (Bundit) as a trainer.”

Eventually, Tiu offered her a job proposal.

“Eventually Sir Chris in one of our conversations told me, ‘Mozz, I think I want to form a pro team.’ My first reaction was it might be difficult to form one. But he said he wanted to create a pro club so the (Adamson) girls could continue their volleyball careers after college,” she said.

“Of course, if it will help local volleyball progress, I’m in. I told Sir Chris we’d work to form a competitive team and join the PVL the following year because it was already summer.”

The PVL was then wrapping up its 2022 season with the return of the Reinforced Conference after a three-year Covid-19 pandemic-forced hiatus following the highly successful Open and Invitational Conferences.

“So, we sat down with (PVL president) Sir Ricky (Palou). Dyusmiyo! After talking to him he told us to join the third conference that June. That caught us by surprise because we still had to recruit players. Although I already had names in mind since BaliPure disbanded and thought we could help those players,” Tita Mozzy recalled.

“I explained to my boss that we might not be as competitive as we wanted because the top players were already signed with other clubs. So, we had a tryout and after completing our local roster we secured a good import and that’s when Mama Pri (Rivera) came in.”

The Chargers finished eighth out in the nine-team field with a 3-5 win-loss record in their maiden tournament.

“When we started, we set a goal to use our first stint for marketing to introduce Akari. Our first conference was really dedicated to that. There were no expectations,” she said.

“But after that, we started recruiting players we wanted — the main guns. Then because we signed a lot of players, more than allowed in the playing roster, we had four to six players on our reserve. That’s when Nxled came in. I welcomed that because it means more employment.”

Maternal instinct

Akari would remain in the bottom half of the standings in the next four conferences before making a major shakeup in its roster for the import-laden conference.

The Chargers took in Cams Victoria, Dani, Ivy Lacsina, setter Kamille Cal and Japanese head coach Taka Minowa from sister team Nxled. They also tapped American import Oly Okaro.

Akari surprised the field going unbeaten in 10 straight games including the controversial five-set semifinal victory over PLDT to book a breakthrough championship showdown against Creamline.

The lead-up to the gold medal match was particularly difficult for the Chargers after their players received hurtful bashings and even death threats on social media following the win over the High Speed Hitters.

It was worse in the championship as Akari was showered with jeers and boos by a rowdy crowd no team has ever experienced in the PVL before.

“What happened with our team was unusual. If I would compare it to what my kids have been going through on social media, they’re callous about it. I guess I’m lucky my kids are like that,” Tita Mozzy said.

“But not all people are like that. It pains me to see my players who have no support system around them at that time, especially those away from their families.”

Her mother’s instinct kicked in.

She was there to check on her players and even offered help to those dealing with the trauma.

“Even if we tell them to ignore or avoid looking at social media, they’d eventually know what the fans say against them. It affects them even if they say it doesn’t,” she said.

“After the finals, it broke my heart to see some of my players break down after receiving those jeers. Not all kids are cut out strong emotionally and mentally. It’s really a challenge for them to absorb and take on those kinds of nasty things. Not all can recover quickly from that episode. We don’t know if some are now scarred for life.”

Worth the time

As a parent, Tita Mozzy faces the reality that her kids are all grown up and have lives of their own now.

Both his boys are in Japan playing professional hoops while Dani is busy with her career.

Their home got a little quieter.

“Sometimes, I even ask myself why I get this busy schedule at my age. But then again, I’m happy with what I’m doing now. I really like working in volleyball,” she said.

“It keeps me occupied and entertained, in a way, especially with my kids already busy with their careers here and abroad. I think this (job) came at the right time.”

Tita Mozzy cherishes her time with the Chargers.

Seeing her Akari players succeed in their careers gives her a sense of fulfillment.

“A mother’s touch is also like a father’s touch. It’s more like having a parental touch on handling things. It won’t work especially for a fledgling women’s club team if you would just approach it strictly as a business,” she advised.

“In our case, most of the time (they) approach me and ask for my help or advice for issues outside of volleyball. That’s the role I play. They look up to you and ask for guidance,” Tita Mozzy added.

“So, even if we’re already at the professional level, players still need mentoring.”

Indeed, a mother knows best.