Busy 2018 for volleyball

Philippine volleyball will have a major reshuffling at the start of the coming year.

That’s according to Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas (LVPI) acting president Peter Cayco, who told the Inquirer that they set a meeting in January to discuss the changes they will make for the national team—including athletes and coaches.

“Actually, it’s the players who wanted to call for the meeting; they called me and said they wanted to sit down and talk,” Cayco said.

He noted that even the coaching staff may be affected as they are looking for a mentor who can implement his program given the complicated set-up of Philippine volleyball.

“We will talk to all leagues including the club and collegiate leagues,” said Cayco. “And we are looking at several names to be the national coach.”

He said it will be a busy 2018 for the LVPI, which is eyeing slots for the men’s and women’s national teams in the Jakarta Asian Games.

The men’s team finished sixth place in the last Southeast Asian Games held in Kuala Lumpur. The popular and star-studded women’s team finished fourth.

But Cayco said they might use the results of the 2017 Asian Women’s Championships as basis for inclusion.

“We placed in the quarterfinals of the Asian championships, that may have carry weight for the Asian Games Task Force (to endorse us),” added Cayco.

The Philippines, led by the likes of Alyssa Valdez, Jaja Santiago and Dawn Macandili, finished eighth in the Asians held here which was won by Japan.