Dante Alinsunurin: Bigger impact on the young ones. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
Coach Dante Alinsunurin believes that the country’s hosting of the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) men’s World Championships will boost more than just the morale of the current stars of local men’s volleyball.“It will have a much bigger impact on the young ones and it will hopefully entice them to play and hopefully increase the level of competition here in the Philippines,” Alinsunurin told the Inquirer in Filipino.
Alinsunurin has been the longtime head coach of National University’s (NU) men’s volleyball team, and is slowly infusing a winners’ mentality in powerhouse Premier Volleyball League team Choco Mucho, which he steered to its first-ever Finals appearance last year.
He was also the former head coach of the national men’s team before parting ways with the program last year.
But with wounds of the recent past mended, Alinsunurin will once again lend his tactical expertise to the national team as a member of the coaching staff for the event slated Sept. 12 to Sept. 18 next year.
He will be working alongside PH team successor Sergio Veloso and assistant coach Odjie Mamon, who also handles the formidable University of Santo Tomas Golden Spikers.
Historic silver
Alinsunurin called the shots for the Nationals during their historic silver-medal finish in the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held here that ended the country’s 42-year frustration of not reaching the gold medal match, dethroning Thailand in the semifinals but falling short to Indonesia in the title match.
“That time when we played the SEA Games here, it had a huge impact on the men’s [division] so I am really thankful to our [national sports association] for bringing the (FIVB) tournament here,” he said. “I hope their support for the men’s team continues.”
Alinsunurin has led NU to five UAAP titles and to two championships as NU Sta. Elena in the Spikers Turf.
With the Philippine National Volleyball Federation bringing the best teams in the globe here, Alinsunurin hopes that local clubs get to learn more from watching the high intensity play of the tournament, live if possible.The seasoned mentor looks forward to local coaches and players applying what they can get from observing the other national teams—from preparations to actual games—to help increase the level of play here.
“Watching on TV doesn’t allow you to actually see the real play of the teams,” Alinsunurin said. “Watching the games live is where you can see how they are really doing it. It will be a positive experience, that’s for sure.” INQ