PRESSURE and sky-high expectations will always be ingrained in athletes hailing from esteemed sporting clans.
Of course, it's no different for Akari libero Dani Ravena, who hasn’t been spared from public scrutiny since her Ateneo days and now, more so in her two-year Premier Volleyball League (PVL) career.
READ: Reigning MVP Brooke Van Sickle fired up by vastly-improved PVL competition
Dani is the youngest sister to basketball stars Kiefer and Thirdy, and daughter of PBA great Bong and her concurrent Chargers team manager Mozzy.
Although Ravena made her PVL debut with Akari in 2022, she was moved to its sister club Nxled where she took on captaincy duties.
But just before the ongoing Reinforced Conference began, Ravena was part of a controversial sister-team trade which paved the way for her return to Akari, trading places with veteran libero Bang Pineda.
Such a circumstance of playing for her mother’s PVL team amplified what was already a pressure-filled setup to begin with, of having to carry the Ravena name in the pros.
But as online hate and criticisms still spew her way, Ravena took to social media to stand her ground.
READ: Abil's victorious PVL return gives hope to those who are left out
The returning Akari defensive specialist responded to a user on X/Twitter claiming how ‘passionate players’ like newly-converted Cignal libero Judith Abil tend to be set back by the lack of opportunity which ‘nepo (nepotism) babies’ like Ravena supposedly have the luxury of.
“I rarely speak about this, but if there’s one thing that my mom would never do, it is to remove or even take away any opportunity from other players just because I am her daughter,” Ravena wrote.
“Since forever, people would always say that I do not deserve to be here or anywhere in the professional level. You guys are entitled to your opinions, but the slander against the entire Akari management/team has to end.”
Always a Ravena
Even amid a wave of doubters and detractors, Ravena vowed to continue putting in the work and striving even harder to fulfill her personal aspirations, no matter what other people have to say.
“I will always be a Ravena. My mom will always be my mom. That’s the reality. But I will never stop working my ass off, not to prove my haters wrong, but to thank those who supported me and believed in me since day 1,” she furthered.
She might not be able to shed the ‘nepo baby’ tag embedded in being a Ravena, but she'll continue to make it a point that the pride from within won't ever die down.
“So go ahead. Hate all you want. Call me ‘Nepo Baby’ for the rest of my life. One thing is for sure: I will never stop working hard to reach my dreams.”
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