Schedule conflicts inevitable with national team, says Valdez

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Alyssa Valdez said Sunday that it’s inevitable that time constraints will get in the way of the supposed daily practices of the women’s national volleyball team.

Cancelled practices have been the lingering issue around the national team with training sessions getting suspended as not enough players show up.

Valdez said all the players in the team have commitments to their club teams and that usually prevents the members from partaking in daily practices.

“It really can’t be helped that their will be league games the next day, so that’s how it is,” said Valdez after leading Creamline to a 3-0 start in the Premier Volleyball League at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan. “I think it’s really the commitment that you have to consider because everyone’s time is also committed to their teams.”

The national team is set to compete in the 2017 Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship in August and will also leave for its Japanese training camp near the end of July.

Constant cancellations of practices, though, have plagued the team heading into the training camp.

These continuous suspensions have drawn the ire of the viewing public, but Valdez knows criticisms will always be part of their job.

“Negative comments will always be there and we really can’t control everyone,” said Valdez. “We can just say that they have their own opinions, we really can’t blame everyone.”

“We really have to support, if they want to support, the national team.”