IN the lead-up to the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Manila, the men's national volleyball team will shortly take on a new team name, following in the footsteps of football's Filipinas and basketball's Gilas.
However, the new squad name is being kept under wraps 'for the next few weeks' until the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) makes it public.
READ: PNVF vows readiness to host world's best teams in volleyball showcase
“I-aannounce po namin ni Sir Tats (Suzara) kung ano ang bagong brand or moniker [ng men’s volleyball team]. Kung may Gilas po sa basketball, secret pa po ngayon sa volleyball but he will announce that in the next couple of weeks,” said Jane Basas, president and CEO of Cignal TV — the official broadcaster of next year’s global volleyball showpiece.
In 2015, the country's national volleyball teams, also backed by PLDT then and will be joined by official tournament broadcaster Cignal moving forward, had short-lived team monikers in 'Amihan' (women's) and 'Bagwis' (men's).
'Amihan' had a star-studded cast led by Mika Reyes, Rachel Daquis, Jovelyn Gonzaga, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Jaja Santiago, Ara Galang, Nerissa Bautista, Ging Balse, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Jen Reyes, Tina Salak, Royse Tubino, Rhea Dimaculangan, Maika Ortiz and Lizlee-Ann Pantone.
Meanwhile, bannering 'Bagwis' were John Vic de Guzman, Mark Alfafara, Ran Abdilla, Jessie Lopez, JP Torres, Peter Torres, Reyson Fuentes, Pitrus de Ocampo, Jeffrey Malabanan and Rodolfo Labrador.
First taste of a new era
Part of the men's volleyball nationals' preparations for the global showpiece will be a special 'one-year countdown tournament' on September later this year featuring three Japanese clubs.
"There is a full schedule until September. Then in September, there is a one-year countdown [...] We’ll finalize a one-year countdown tournament here with three Japanese club teams coming here to play the men’s national team. There are a lot of activities, we’re just finalizing it to prepare our team.
"We have one year and a half, and part of the agreement of FIVB is to bring our team to more competitions. As you know, we have improved our ranking, from 117 last year to 56 in the world now. Hopefully, we can be No. 32 or No. 20+ next year in the World Championship," said PNVF President Ramon 'Tats' Suzara.
Taking on such high-level Japanese opposition is expected to kickstart the men's nationals' haul of international playing experience as a unit in the one-and-a-half year period between the hosting announcement and the hosting proper of the global meet.
"Kung makaisang panalo [sa 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship], bakit hindi? It will make our world ranking really go up immediately. But we will work harder. The teams here are not so easy. You can imagine world-class champions here, Olympic champions competing. But again, this is really an opportunity, a big opportunity for our teams to really compete globally," Suzara said.
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