ALAS Pilipinas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito got candid on training an incomplete national team weeks before the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand this December.
It’s gotten much far from ideal to the point that the number of players he’s training can be counted with just one hand.
READ: Alas left scrambling weeks before SEA Games with no set player pool
“We keep on training with two guys sometimes, sometimes four, sometimes three, but we are always there,” he revealed.
“Probably, we'll have some additions from our original 25 players from the lineup. Let's be honest, I need feedback from them and also if the clubs would let them join. That's our national team.”
This unstable setup was confirmed by PVL president Ricky Palou, who, as an incumbent PNVF board member, confirmed that there is no set player pool at the moment due to recurring roster overhauls in recent weeks.
Further putting some players’ participation in limbo is how PVL teams are not mandated to lend players - and are now just encouraged to voluntarily do so.
Alas' adversity
With no more forthcoming training camps due to time constraints, the Brazilian mentor isn’t denying how tough of a challenge it has been for him personally to take on such sub-optimal ordeals this late into their preparations.
He is, however, undeterred on what the Nationals can make of such adversity once the tournament begins in Thailand next month.
“It’s still hard. We're going to fight and it's more for the flag,” de Brito said.
“You help the national team to keep on getting results sometimes. And with the caliber of the players that we have, you cannot just stick to ‘happy for the bronze’ or ‘happy for the final.’
“If we have enough players, we’ll have enough time to make much more.”
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