On Bernal, Daquis, Gumabao, Cainglet, Ho, the Santiago sisters and others not being on the PH-Fibr team to Thailand

This is in response to those posting comments on my recent article on the formation of the Philippine women’s volleyball contingent that will represent the country in the upcoming Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in Korat City, Thailand.

Apart from the fact that many of those posting negative comments about the team formed by the Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) and backed by PLDT HOME Fibr broadband didn’t read the article in full—or maybe just looked at the pictures, or worse: just looked at the title and the cover photo—there are still many opinions on who should or should not be on the team. It’s a known fact that all the best players can’t fit in one collection of talent that is comprised of only fourteen members—or in the case of the lady nationals, seventeen. I’ve gone through this in trying to defend the squad put together by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and national basketball Head Coach Chot Reyes that saw action in the recently concluded FIBA-Asia Championship here. And while many naysayers were already writing the hoops team off as one that is not composed of the best in the country before the tournament even started, Gilas still won the Silver Medal and is going to Spain for the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

The Gilas bashers were all but silenced, and the people who “knew” what they were doing proved them all wrong.

While winning a medal in the AVC tilt might not be a realistic proposition after the Philippine volleyball program was frozen from international competition over the last eight years, the mere fact that the PVF, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and a number of supporters worked hand in hand to set aside differences for volleyball progress is—as I wrote previously—a huge leap in the right direction.

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In all honesty, the nationals will indeed be very fortunate to advance to the quarterfinals, let alone escape the preliminaries. But that’s not really why they were put together, right? They are going to Thailand to make the first efforts in restoring a national volleyball program that may bear fruit in a few years. This is not going to be a one-time deal like other attempts at sending a bonafide national team and sustaining the program that will fuel it. Eight years is a long time to be “out of circulation” and the PVF, POC and PSC know it. But whatever positive sign that emerges from this sortie will lead to improvements in the program and—while it will take some time—the Philippines is one exposure closer to regaining its stature as a regional powerhouse, as it was in the twentieth century.

But for those who still didn’t understand the paragraphs formed by the first four hundred or so words I just wrote; let’s see where YOUR players for the national team are. Again, understand that Head Coach Nes Pamilar and the team management required unbridled commitment in terms of time and dedication. So here are your “missing” players.

#1 College Students such as Din-Din & Jaja Santiago, Alyssa Valdez, Den-Den Lazaro, Aby Maraño, Ara Galang, Mika Reyes, Myla Pablo, etc.:

Stop posting negative comments looking for them and then condemning the people who put the team together if you don’t understand the term STUDENT ATHLETE.

This is precisely why the organizers of the inaugural Philippine Super Liga (PSL) Invitational were apprehensive about allowing presently-enrolled students to join the league. It is the belief of many that these students must prioritize their studies first, hence they are called STUDENT-ATHLETES and not ATHLETE-STUDENTS. In fact, the abovementioned names and others just like them voluntarily excused themselves from participating even in the tryouts phase because they already knew—as smart, responsible students—that any commitment they make to the national team could jeopardize their studies.

The second part of that is that they are ATHLETES of their respective alma maters. They have goals for the schools that recruited them and after attending to their obligations as students must now train with their varsity units. This is why I applaud the women’s volleyball program of De La Salle University (DLSU) as they are like the Gestapo during the school-year. Study, train, study, train, study, train, rinse and repeat. That’s the kind of dedication they commit themselves to under Head Coach Ramil de Jesus and look at the result: three consecutive UAAP crowns and on the crest of a fourth.

There are, however, a few students who DID make it to the national team such as Adamson’s May Macatuno and Faye Guevarra, Perpetual’s Honey Royse Tubino and FEU’s Wenneth Eulalio and Rosemarie Vargas.

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In the case of the Lady Falcons, their Head Coach Sherwin Meneses is on the coaching staff for the nationals and their assistant coach Angela Benting is also in the roster as a player. Their school even allowed incoming captain Sheila Pineda to train with the squad, but is now committed to playing for the host school in the ongoing UAAP Beach Volleyball tournament, so the Adamson athletic department made the call to allow its key players and coaches to join the team for flag and country. In the Lady Altas’ case, it was Tubino who had facilitated several manoeuvrings around her scholastic schedule that initially allowed her to see action in the PSL; one of four students to do so. Apparently, the scheduled moves also allowed her to join the nationals—training and all. She will still suit up for Perpetual when they go for their third title defense in the NCAA. For the FEU lasses, Eulalio and Vargas—along with Jhajha Tutanes—have opted to quit the varsity, hence they are not aseeing action for the Lady Tamaraws in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference. This was their personal decision. They are still students, but have taken less units to be able to still play volleyball both professionally and for the national team.

The rest of the team is made up of graduates—pretty much like a certain sports program that did very well recently: The Gilas program; ever hear of that?

#2 Members of the Philippine Army (including Rachel Anne Daquis) and other club teams such as Fille Cainglet and Jen Reyes (Meralco), Rubie de Leon, Suzanne Roces and Melissa Gohing (Smart-Maynilad), Maika Ortiz, Judy Caballejo and Rhea Dimaculangan (Air Force), etc.:

When we explore the word “commitment”, we also need to explore what certain individuals are indeed committed to. The Philippine Army won the title in the PSL Invitational. It was with the understanding that any player who joins the PSL automatically becomes part of the national training pool, ergo, the Lady Troopers should have representatives on the national team, right? Here’s the answer: the Lady Troopers were all invited to the tryouts—as were the other almost one hundred participants in the PSL Invitational. However, during the time the tryouts were being conducted, Army and other players who saw action in the PSL Invitational had already committed to play in the Shakey’s V-League Open Conference. Others who had been invited to the tryouts had already signed with their respective clubs and the training schedules conflicted with the national training sessions. They joined the league to win the title and will not allow any distractions in that goal—much like DLSU in the UAAP.

These people have to sign stuff like waivers when they join a team or a league, so copping out isn’t that easy.

There are a few from other clubs such as PNP’s Michelle Datuin, Cignal’s Danika Gendrauli and Arriane Argarin and PLDT MyDSL’s Tatan Gata-Pantone and Benting. For the PSL squads, they have adjusted their training schedules to accommodate the national team members as their company is bankrolling the squad anyway.

It’s more heroic in the case of Datuin, my closest friend among all the volleybelles.

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She confided to me that it has been her lifelong dream to be a part of the national team and attends TWO training sessions a night: 6PM-8PM with her club team PNP in Camp Crame then takes a brief five minute drive to the nearby San Juan Arena to join the nationals, which practice from 8PM-10PM. The only part of the national team training she misses is the warm-ups, but since she had already done that practicing with the Lady Patrolers, she actually arrives one step ahead of the rest of the team. Datuin, an entrepreneur, has the luxury of being in control of her own time so she can achieve this nocturnal juggling.

The rest of the nationals come from one club: the Cagayan Valley Rising Suns—which also goes through two separate training sessions, but in the same venue.

#3 No school or club affiliation (at present) such as Gretchen Ho and Michele Gumabao (I guess these are the two more evident):

Here is the answer: personal reasons. Gretchen and Michele have recently launched their broadcasting careers—Gretchen with the Balls Channel and Michele with us at the Shakey’s V-League and GMA in general. It’s the same reason why people like Rubie de Leon, Suzanne Roces and Jem Ferrer didn’t suit up for any team during the PSL Invitational: personal reasons. For these ambitious young souls, there’s more to life than just volleyball and they are happily pursuing their dreams—and are doing very well in the process.

#4 "Queen" Venus Bernal

I think the reigning MVP of the PSL is in a category of her own. "Queen" Venus was actually invited to the national pool and was already named to the team—there were supposed to be eighteen of them, as do most contingents have heading into the AVC in Thailand. However, Venus had run out of “leaves” playing in the PSL and it is because she is a very hard-working employee for the Manila Water Company is why we haven’t seen her in action in the Shakey’s V-League since she graduated from UST. Her comeback at the PSL Invitational showed to all of us that she can still play at a high level, but she is also committed to her fulltime job. I believe she should get an “Employee of the Year” award for her dedication to her work, don’t you agree?

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#5 Players who are not from Luzon

Actually, there is one member of the national team who did not study in a Luzon school, yet still made it to the team: Danika Gendrauli—Southwestern University, Cebu. It will take some time before the PVF can actually track down the other stalwarts from the provinces. The Shakey’s V-League has done its part in bringing some of these secluded talents to the national consciousness such as Jovelyn Gonzaga (Central Philippines University, Iloilo—guest player for University of St. La Salle-Bacolod), Iari Yongco (De La Salle-Dasmariñas), Michelle Simbajon (University of San Jose-Recoletos, Cebu) and former league MVP Nerissa Bautista (University of San Agustin, Iloilo). Gendrauli was among those who were discovered due to that initial salvo in the Shakey’s V-League, and now she’s on the national team.

I’m very certain that there is tremendous talent that could be part of the national team program lurking in places like Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Pangasinan, Bicol and elsewhere among the over seven thousand islands in this archipelago.

The PH-Fibr team is just the beginning.

The SBP has an innovative program called the NBTC (National Basketball Training Center) wherein coaches scouted the country for potential talent and had come home with a few gems such as Greg Slaughter, June Mar Fajardo and a host of others who are presently in the Gilas Cadet Pool or already making waves in the PBA. It won’t be long before the PVF takes that initiative on. And when it does, the future Jaja Santiagos, Jen Reyeses and Alyssa Valdezes will be the ones going to these AVC tournaments.

It’s just a matter of time.

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I expect a lot of people commenting on the contents of this piece, so go ahead—if you’ve read it in full. I actually MISCAPTIONED some of the pictures on purpose to weed out those who actually are commenting based on what was written as opposed to what was “glanced” at. But the bottomline is, the PH-Fibr squad is on a mission to re-establish a foothold in international competition. That alone is laudable. Let’s support them all the way, regardless of result, regardless of who is on the team, regardless of what the “crabs” may say.

They said we could never make it to the FIBA World Cup. They said we could never beat Korea in basketball in this lifetime. They said a lot of things that wasn’t supposed to be achieved. But the Filipino spirit (PUSO) prevailed. I believe that if we work together and scrap the negative things that drag us down, anything is possible.

So to the seventeen intrepid souls bound for Thailand: I believe in you. Who’s with me once and for all?

Follow Noel Zarate on Twitter (@NoelZarate) and email sportztackle@yahoo.com