AS the only active female PVL head coach, Galeries Tower’s Lerma Giron believes now is the time for more women to take up space in a male-dominated sport.
Of the 45 head coaches who held the reins for a PVL team in the league's eight-year history, 42 were men.
READ: Lerma Giron trusted the process with Galeries
Before Giron, it was American coach Airess Padda who became the first female to lead a PVL team back for just one campaign back in the 2019 Reinforced Conference with Motolite.
A four-year wait would then follow before another female was to be named head coach in Regine Diego for F2 Logistics in 2023 until the club's eventual disbandment later that year.
While the coaching door for women in the pros continues to open with the likes of Tina Salak now a deputy coach for Nxled, Giron knows for sure that there’s definitely room for more.
“Nag-start naman na kina coach Tina sa Nxled. Unti-unting nabubuksan yung opportunities sa amin. Sa ganitong pagkakaton na dominated ng lalaki, naumpisahan naman na,” Giron shared with SPIN.ph.
“Hopefully, ma-encourage pa yung iba na kaya rin pala ng mga babaeng gawin ‘tong mga ganitong bagay.”
While sports leadership roles - just like many others - often favored men, Giron never saw such as a hindrance to her personal aspirations.
Her passion for the sport at a young age was more than enough to overcome any doubt she might have had seeing men rule the field - may it be in the grassroots, college ranks, or pros.
“Passion ko talaga (ang volleyball) ever since simula high school, college, nung nasa UST pa ko. Very passionate na ako sa ginagawa ko,” Giron said.
“Hindi ko binigyang-pansin masyado na ‘Teka, puro lalaki yung nandito. Anong ginagawa ko rito?’”
Giron’s Highrisers side once claimed the scalp of her fellow Golden Tigresses deputy coach and Cignal mentor Shaq delos Santos back in the 2024-25 All-Filipino Conference qualifying round — a fitting start to National Women’s Month back in Mar. 1.
Their Cinderella run and PVL playoffs debut would come to an end in the quarterfinals after getting swept by Akari in a pair of five-set matches.
Just like Galeries Tower’s rebuild project in the league, there’s still a long way to go before women get to stand on a platform and wield power in the coaching ranks as much as men have and continue to do.
But at the end of the day, for as long as one carries the desire to stand one’s ground, there won’t ever be any limit to how far one’s passion can go.
“Sa’kin kasi, more on mahal ko yung ginagawa ko, gusto ko yung ginagawa ko. Nagulat na lang ako na katrabaho ko na pala, puro lalaki. Kalaban ko na pala, puro lalaki,” Giron said.
“Wala naman akong thought na may kailangan akong patunayan. It’s more on I’m very passionate lang du’n sa ginagawa ko.”
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
