‘Fixed slots’ eyed as solution to gasping women’s NT program

Drastic measures are in order for the troubled national women’s volleyball team.

Larong Volleyball sa Pilipinas Inc., (LVPI) executive vice president Peter Cayco on Saturday said they would hold a meeting in the coming weeks to discuss changes after the women’s team’s poor showing in the Southeast Asian Games, where it failed to win a single game.

“We are just waiting for our president (Joey Romasanta) to arrive and then we will talk about what to do with the women’s team,” Cayco said.

The LVPI has already green-lighted the 2020 training and development of the men’s team, which scaled new heights in scoring a silver medal in the biennial games.

Cayco said Romasanta is meeting Asian Volleyball Confederation officials in Thailand.

Though Cayco didn’t confirm it, the LVPI meeting is expected to zero in on the proposal to put up at least six fixed slots in the national team (NT) made up of young players.

That way, it would be easier to develop chemistry among players.

The players in the fixed slots will form a core of the team and will only be beefed up by members of the national pool when there are international competitions.

But there has been no solution floated as to the restructuring of the calendars of two rival popular women’s leagues, the Philippine Superliga and the Premier Volleyball League, whose conflicting schedules hamper training sessions of the national women’s squads.