NXLED head coach Ettore Guidetti was neither rattled nor overwhelmed when he learned last December that a wave of former Petro Gazz champions would soon fall under his watch.
For some coaches, fitting multiple stars into a single system can be a delicate balancing act.
But for Guidetti, it was familiar territory.
The 51-year-old Italian mentor has spent nearly three decades navigating elite volleyball environments, often surrounded by big names with even bigger expectations.
READ Here's why Petro Gazz remains visible in the PVL through Nxled
Compared to some of the challenges he’s faced before, absorbing a championship core was far from daunting.
“Mine is probably the longest career of coaching here in the Philippines. I am in my 32nd year of professional career. I started coaching at 19. Right now I’m turning 52. It’s a long, long travel,” Guidetti told SPIN.ph after the Chameleons' win over Farm Fresh in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference on Tuesday at the Playtime Filoil Centre.
Even amid rough stretches like Nxled’s early league struggles, Guidetti’s resumé speaks for itself.
Over the years, he has handled and helped mold some of the sport’s most recognizable figures, learning how to manage so-called ‘superteams’ without sacrificing structure or discipline.
“I already coached super big players like Isabelle Haak, the older sister, Tatyana Menshova, Diana-Ramona Marc,” the Nxled mentor said.
“I helped to create players from Italian national teams like Federica Stufi, Greta Cicolari. I helped [former Italy national team coach] Davide Mazzanti coaching Anna Danesi, Paola Egonu and other very good players.
“Those ones and the same girls that I am coaching now, they have the same, same, same attitude. They only answer in two ways: ‘Yes, coach. Thank you, coach,’ and that’s the way to have a humble and super willing-to-win player.”
Sparking a new revolution
Guidetti now faces a different kind of challenge with Nxled, one that transformed almost overnight from a struggling side into a squad stacked with 11 champions led by Brooke Van Sickle.
He even described the sudden facelift as a ‘surprise Christmas present,’ one he embraced fully.
And while the expectations have shifted, his approach hasn’t.
“This is a team that wants to arrive to play on the top for the whole conference. Before, Nxled was trying to find his own identity, to understand if it was a team to stay on the bottom or like in the PVL on Tour in the first six,” Guidetti said.
“It was kind of different in a way but honestly, I didn’t switch a single part of my style of coaching. I usually coach the younger [players] and even the experienced ones in the same way. I’m always trying to give them everything that I got, even if it’s not enough.”
True to the Chameleons’ name, Guidetti wants adaptability to define this new era, no matter how far it takes them.
“They used to change, to switch, so we are ready to adapt. I want to say that it’s pretty simple when you are a chameleon, to switch,” he said.
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