Phisgoc COO Tats Suzara.
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s volleyball and beach volleyball teams will have a long road ahead of the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam as the four squads are expected to train in Subic for seven months.
Ramon “Tats” Suzara, the president of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation, said that coaches and officials of the governing body will begin evaluating national teams as early as the first week of May to fully maximize their planned stay in Subic.
The national teams for both volleyball and beach volleyball are expected to stay in Subic from May until November before departing for Hanoi in December for the regional competition.
“Once the tryouts are complete the end of next week then by first week of May we’ll start evaluating the top 20 or 25 players then submit the names to the PSC [Philippine Sports Commission],” said Suzara in an interview with Inquirer.
“I have to arrange a lot of things including board and lodging, a lot of things and also the distribution of tasks. Hopefully we can start training by May 15 up to November 15.”
The Philippines had an impressive run in the 2019 SEA Games, which the country hosted, with the beach volleyball squads earning bronze medals in both the men and women’s competitions.
It was also an historic feat for the men’s national volleyball team after it took the silver medal—the highest achievement the country got in the field and also the first piece of hardware since the bronze finish in 1991.
Suzara, though confident, admitted that such a lengthy preparation time would be costly as it would require the federation to house more than a hundred people for seven months in a Subic hotel.
His consolation, however, is not having to spend a single dime in transportation fees once in Subic as the hotel is a five-minute walk from Subic Gym—the venue for the practices and tryouts.
“It’s costly because they have to be accommodated there,” said Suzara. “But the advantage is that the hotel is only five minutes away so they don’t need transportation all they have to do is walk.”
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