WINNING takes care of everything, indeed, as the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) seeks to keep Jorge Souza de Brito as Alas Pilipinas Women’s head coach.
READ: Alas Pilipinas moves up to 8th in Asia, No. 55 in FIVB world rankings
The Brazilian mentor’s contract is set to expire by the end of June — one month following the conclusion of what is shaping up to be a historic home campaign in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women.
However, PNVF chief Ramon ‘Tats’ Suzara has already seen more than enough breakthroughs under de Brito's guidance to justify the extension of his tenure as national team shot-caller.
“Coach Jorge (Souza de Brito) coached the country to a first-ever semifinals stint in any AVC or Asian-level competition. That’s historic for Philippine volleyball,” said Suzara.
“And because of that, there’s no reason that we’ll let him go.”
Keep the momentum going
Alas swept all four of its pool phase matches and rose to its best FIVB world ranking in 18 years at No. 55, while also barging into Asia’s top 10 teams at No. 8 to surpass the likes of Australia, Indonesia, India, and Iran.
READ: Alas Pilipinas whips Chinese-Taipei, faces Kazakhstan in semis
The pleasant surprise of a start led to the Philippines' first-ever semifinals appearance in an Asian tournament since the national federation’s inception 63 years ago.
With that, Suzara stressed he’ll be at the forefront of plans to keep de Brito in charge of the women’s volleyball program for the foreseeable future.
“We’ll be appealing that he remains head coach of our women’s national team program,” the PNVF chief added.
Tricky roads ahead
Keeping de Brito at the helm will be easier said than done for the PNVF in light of recent developments surrounding the national team's coaching structure.
With his contract set to expire in over a month, de Brito was already set to assume head coaching duties for Chinese-Taipei.
Even more, through the FIVB's national team development program—the same pipeline that brought de Brito to the Philippines back in 2021—the sport's global governing body also already appointed the Brazilian's replacement as Alas head coach: a yet-to-be named mentor from Italy.
Such aforementioned arrangements are what the PNVF, in the words of Suzara, seeks to appeal.
Whatever happens, though, should this be de Brito's farewell to the Philippines, he'll be looking to punctuate his three-year tenure with what could be his greatest feat for flag and country: a podium-or even a gold medal-finish for Alas.
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