THERE won’t be any shoo-ins to the very first Philippine men’s team to take part in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on home soil next year.
Head coach Sergio Veloso, however, won’t run out of options wherever he chooses to look for his next set of nationals, may it be from a high-profile list of local and overseas standouts or from the fast-rising stars in the college ranks.
Although he did throw some familiar names into the mix upon speaking to reporters shortly after the FIVB hosting announcement, Veloso made one thing clear about the national team for the global meet — every roster spot will have to be earned, not handed.
READ: Philippines named host of 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship
“For me, no matter if you're senior or a beginner, you need to show me your best. You can (talk about) who's famous (like Bryan) Bagunas and (Marck) Espejo, but in the last season, (Jau) Umandal showed me that (he) can play. And when Bagunas and Espejo return, they’ll need to fight with Umandal for the position,” said Veloso.
“It's good because this is a good fight — one player after another.”
And as recent tournaments and local leagues have shown, there’s more to what Philippine men’s volleyball can offer beyond the likes of Bagunas and Espejo.
Veloso hasn’t forgotten one bit what his young guns from previous Asian tilts have shown, some of which as young as 18 years old but can go toe-to-toe at the highest level with some of the region and world’s finest pool of aces.
“In our first tournament in the SEA Games, we played with (Jade) Disquitado, only 18 years old. We played with (Jay Rack) Dela Noche, 19 years old. We played with (Rwenzmel) Taguibolos, 20 years old."
Veloso added: “So this is my proposal. No matter who practiced with me, you need to show me in the practice and confirm in the match. I’ll put the best [players] for the national team and it's [more than just a] list, because if it's [only] a list, I give a list for the referee, we can look at the list, but will we win? No. You need to play. You need to show me in the practice and confirm it in the match.
“I don't care if I need to change [players], it's the national team. It's not a player team.”
Veloso: Hosting global showpiece a 'win-win' for all
In an early preview of the global meet, hosting the tournament itself is a huge win in itself for Philippine volleyball. Results aside, however, Veloso vows that the nationals will deliver the very best they can — regardless of whoever stands their way on the other side of the net.
“Everybody wins in this situation (2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship hosting). We get more sponsors, we get more fans. I think this is the most important for now. The World Championship is a very, very good opportunity to do this.
“With this new situation about the World Championship here, it's a big responsiblity and I'm happy with this situation but the players, you need to show for our fans the best inside no matter who's on the other side, no matter the score, no matter it's 3-0, or we win 3-0, you need to do our best because the Philippine flag is the most important,” said Veloso.
“I don’t know if we can go for the second round. We’ll play with the best of the best national teams in the world. But as I said here and the guys know that, no matter who plays in the other side, we’ll do our best. If you want to win, you need to play. If you don’t play with us, we can beat you.”
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