Regine Diego was part of La Salle’s women’s volleyball dynasty.
“But I’m not that good so nobody knows me,” she quickly qualified.
A libero during her time, Diego was with the “Manilla Santos era” that sparked the Lady Spikers’ 11-title romp from the mid 2000s.
She was recently named by the Larong Volleybal sa Pilipinas (LVPI) national coach for the women’s 17-under and 19-under squads.
Instantly she was tasked with forming two 14-man teams for the two age-groups, which the LVPI hopes would be the form part of the national team’s future.
“It’s a big responsibility, I agree, but I have always been into development, grassroots training,” she said. “A solid grassroots development is our only chance [in competitions] abroad.”
The LVPI plans to field a team in the Asian U-19 this July in China.
Diego said there’s a bounty of new faces for the national team and getting their services should be no problem.
“What’s nice in being in the grassroots is that there not much divide, like us fellow coaches, we can borrow players from one another without any issues,” she said.
Diego will also serve as one of the assistant coaches of the women’s team now led by Shaq delos Santos.
Having been under Ramil de Jesus for quite some time, Diego is now known among volleyball circles for a rigid coaching approach.