OVERWHELMED after receiving a contract extension, Alas Pilipinas women’s volleyball coach Jorge Souza de Brito and the rest of the squad are aching to buckle down to work as part of their preparations for the FIVB Women’s Challenger Cup set next month.
The Philippine National Volleyball Federation succeeded in its bid to keep Souza de Brito at the helm of the national team until the Southeast Asian Games next year. He guided Alas to a bronze medal finish in the AVC Challenge Cup for Women last month.
“Well, I can tell you that I am very, very happy because I worked for three years here, and our goal is always to win. But that’s a process that you have to go through and when you get these goals, of course you’ll be happy,” De Brito said. “I’m very proud of the players who did that, who helped us as a coaching staff to achieve this.
“Also, I’m really happy because I will be handling them again for the next (tournaments).
I’m sure we are really, really close to getting better. I’m very happy,” he added.
As expectations for the Alas women continue to rise after its first medal in 63 years in any Asian-level tourney, Souza de Brito reiterated that the Nationals should keep improving.
The country is set to stage the Challenger Cup as hosts, making the Alas shoo-ins for the eight-nation tilt.
“The expectations right now are getting higher, but also you have to remain grounded and understand that there’s still a lot of things to do. But you see, we have some vitamins already for winning. Also, with all the support from the fans, they are really excited to join,” De Brito said.
“The guys can’t even wait for the time to start training again. Imagine, with little training (for the AVC Challenge Cup) we already did what we did. So, what if we had more time to train, imagine what we can get. So, the players are really, really excited to join the training starting next week and our tune-up tomorrow. It’s really amazing what a win can do.”
The 57-year-old Olympic champion said he intends to keep the core of the team for the FIVB Challenger Cup while also considering more players to bolster their depth.
PVL champions Diana Mae Carlos and Jema Galanza were added to the Alas pool.
“Of course, we’re also working with the PVL teams, UAAP teams, because we have to balance this. We’re trying to keep the same (core) because I think it’s important. We also need to add more players. Philippine volleyball is much more than these players,” De Brito said.
“I have to congratulate them because we got the goals, but also, I told them already that we’re gonna add some good players also because you know, every time you get more talented players, it’s better for us.
“Internal competitions are always good, so we’ll try to bring other guys, but we’re gonna try to keep the same core because it’s too close, the competition is too close.”
