AVC Challenge Cup official praises PH hosting, Alas Pilipinas

AVC Challenge Cup official Dr. Shihab Al-Din Ahmed Al-Riyami.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenge Cup official Dr. Shihab Al-Din Ahmed Al-Riyami heaped praise on the Philippines’ successful hosting of the women’s tournament at Rizal Memorial Coliseum as well as Alas Pilipinas’ vast improvement from seventh place last year to a podium finisher.

“I haven’t been here before. But it’s a good surprise because of the facilities, the sports culture here, also the federation is working hard to level up the game. For five or six years, we haven’t seen that level that you saw. That level is completely progressing since last year ’til now with the Brazilian coach,” said Al-Riyami, a member of AVC Challenge Cup’s Technical Sub-Committee.

“That is also the federation’s vision for the culture of volleyball in society — a lot of fans, a good surprise, more than 5,000 fans of volleyball have attended, watching the games and supporting volleyball in the Philippines,” he added.

READ: Next schedule for Alas Pilipinas after AVC Challenge Cup campaign

Al-Riyami, an FIVB International Volleyball Coach Instructor, lauded the hosting of the Philippines as the Challenge Cup drew jampacked crowds every night at Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

That’s why he believes that FIVB keeps entrusting the Philippine National Volleyball Federation to host a Volleyball Nations League (VNL) men’s division leg for the third straight year. 

“This is good credit for the Philippines, really, because it was usually Japan, Korea, and Thailand hosting international events. This is good because the FIVB highly trusts the work of the Philippine federation in hosting international events because the fans here are so far, so good for this game in the future,” he said.

Al-Riyami expressed his admiration for Alas Pilipinas’ inspiring bronze medal run under Brazilian coach Jorge Souza De Brito.

In fact, he was rooting for the Filipino Spikers to reach the final but they lost to Kazakhstan in the semifinal — their lone loss of the tournament — before sweeping Australia in the battle for third. Vietnam completed a golden repeat after beating Kazakhstan in the gold medal match.

“Last year, I was also in the AVC Challenge Cup. I already watched the Philippine team. The main question when I asked the Brazilian coach one week ago, I said: ‘What about this tournament?’ He said: ‘You’ll be surprised.’ It’s a big gap really [compared to last year],” the Omanian volleyball official said. “When you work with any foreigner coach, you have to give them time to be stable, enough time to build the team, to make progress with the team, to build communication skills between the players and society. And that’s very good now.”

READ: Alas Pilipinas wins AVC Challenge Cup bronze, beats Australia

The AVC official, who is a certified strength and conditioning specialist with a PhD in Sports Exercise Physiology, believes the future is bright for Philippine volleyball with hardworking athletes, coaches, and officials.

He pointed out five things including government, federation, media, education, and most especially the coaching of volleyball, which will play a crucial role in the level of the sport.

“If you improve the coaches and increase the number of qualified coaches in sports, especially in volleyball, it will make sure that this country will be fine for a long time because coaching is the main factor in developing any sport in the world,” he said. 

“We have to establish a national coaching program. So if we have in the Philippines, a national coaching certification program, make sure that in the future, you’ll have a lot of qualified Philippine coaches. Philippine coaches are gonna work with different shareholders: in schools, in training centers, in clubs, in national teams, in universities. All of that will be so positive for the national team and also for the game.”

The Alas women’s team is headed to South Korea for a friendly against the country’s national team on Friday. The men’s squad is competing in the classification stage of the Challenge Cup in Bahrain, while the PNVF will send a girls’ team to compete in two international under-18 events.