MANILA, Philippines—Ramil De Jesus is considered as one of the finest minds in Philippine volleyball having led De La Salle to 11 UAAP titles and F2 Logistics to three championships in the Philippine Superliga.
As talented as De Jesus is, he’s still human and he admits juggling coaching duties for both the Lady Spikers and the Cargo Movers sometime take a toll on him.
De Jesus said that he found it the most difficult when his two teams play on the same day just like when La Salle played Far Eastern University in the UAAP Season 81 women’s volleyball tournament and with F2 taking on PLDT in the Philippine Superliga Grand Prix.
“They really did play simultaneously and it’s hard because it’s not just about the game itself because there’s the preparation too,” said De Jesus after his Lady Spikers dismantled Far Eastern University, 25-15, 25-19, 26-24, Saturday at Filoil Flying V Center.
“How will you build a mindset? How will you plan? Like today, the games were played at the same time,” added De Jesus. “Although I’ve already made a game plan but it’s still different if I’m there because I know the players better and for a team it’s hard to lose a father figure inside the court.”
If the Lady Spikers were able to pull off the win against the Lady Tamaraws, the Cargo Movers weren’t as lucky against PLDT after losing in four sets, 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 18-25.
Noel Orcullo, an assistant coach at both La Salle and F2, coached the Cargo Movers but the team played without key players Kim Fajardo, Kianna Dy, and Cha Cruz-Behag who are all nursing different injuries.
F2, which is a major sponsor of La Salle, still held a respectable record of 7-2.
De Jesus, whose Lady Spikers improved to 5-2 in the UAAP, even told F2’s management that if possible he would focus on La Salle during the second semester of the UAAP.
“I’ve told the team managers that if possible I don’t want to be the coach for both teams especially during the UAAP,” said De Jesus. “It’s really hard juggling the two.”