FILE – Coach Jerry Yee. MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Farm Fresh coach Jerry Yee assured that handling the new Premier Volleyball League team won’t be an additional load on top of his coaching gigs with NCAA champion College of Saint Benilde, amid parting ways with Adamson in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament.
The Foxies on Tuesday evening officially named the two-time NCAA champion as their head coach, who is making his return to the professional league after a year.
Yee bared that the team will be composed of the core of the Lady Blazers when they see action in the PVL Invitational Conference starting on June 29.
Always with fresh ideas how to build (or rebuild) a team from the ground up. The master. And the leader of the skulk of Foxies.
Jerry Yee is the head coach of club team Farm Fresh!
Catch him in the @PVLph starting this month! 🦊🥛🧡🏐 #FarmFreshStart pic.twitter.com/2i3X45e0fO
— Farm Fresh Foxies (@FarmFreshFoxies) June 6, 2023
“Technically, it’s not an added load [for me] because Farm Fresh will have the same core as Benilde,” said the Farm Fresh coach in Filipino.
“It’s the same as our training in collegiate. But nonetheless, we look forward to giving this kind of opportunity and exposure to our players,” he added.
But hours after Farm Fresh released Yee’s statement, Adamson released the seasoned tactician due to his return to the professional league.
Adamson didn’t specify the main reason for letting go of Yee as most of the UAAP coaches are also juggling coaching gigs from their PVL and college squads but it expressed its gratitude to the outgoing tactician, who led the Lady Falcons to their best finish since Season 76 with a bronze medal and a 10-5 record including the Final Four lost to the NU Lady Bulldogs.
Akari, the sponsor of Adamson women’s volleyball team, is also part of the PVL with the Chargers under coach Jorge Souza de Brito seeing action since last year’s Reinforced Conference.
Yee, who steered St. Benilde to back-to-back NCAA season sweeps, is returning to the PVL after coaching Petro Gazz in the Open Conference last year. He led the Angels to the finals but got swept by the Creamline Cool Smashers.
St. Benilde star Mycah Go. –V-LEAGUE PHOTO
Last Sunday, Farm Fresh welcomed Mycah Go as its first player despite her ongoing recovery from an ACL injury.
St. Benilde outside spiker Gayle Pascual, who led the Lady Blazers to their second straight perfect championship run in NCAA Season 98, was seen in the team photo shoot as the Foxies are set to reveal the other members of the team in the coming days.
The Lady Blazers will receive a special guest license (SGL) from the Games and Amusement Board, which is given to amateur players who want to play in professional leagues on a limited basis, as the NCAA allows its athletes to see action in the pro ranks.
Farm Fresh is one of three PVL newcomers with Gerflor and Foton, who will be joining defending champion Creamline, Petro Gazz, F2 Logistics, PLDT, Chery Tiggo, Cignal, Choco Mucho, and Akari.
The Invitationals will separate the 11 teams into two groups with the top two squads advancing to the round-robin semifinals, where a pair of foreign clubs will spice up the competition.