For volleyball coach Sherwin Meneses, opportunity came knocking and he didn't let it pass.
Reigning UAAP champion National University was looking for a coach after Norman Miguel departed shortly after guiding the Lady Bulldogs to the UAAP women's title last May.
It turned out Meneses was available despite the fact that he was already handling Creamline, the country's most successful women's professional team which made history recently by scoring a PVL grand slam last season.
NU made an offer and Meneses accepted, to the surprise of many who thought perhaps that the coach already had too much on his plate.
“‘Yung opportunity, nandyan lang talaga. ‘Yung wife ko at saka ‘yung mga baby ko, sa NU nag-aaral talaga tapos malapit pa sa ’min. ‘Yung timing lang siguro, ‘yung opportunity na mapunta sa NU, bigla na lang dumating. Hopefully, mag-succeed tayo sa UAAP,” said Meneses.
READ: Sherwin on stark similarities between Creamline, NU Lady Bulldogs
Meneses said he looked at the NU job as a challenge and not as a mere chance to add zeroes to his bank book, althought it certainly would help, having a family that is growing.
But he could not resist the oportunity to go back and also compete in the college level, having done so with Adamson which he handled eight years ago in the UAAP.
Although NU is already a top tier team in the UAAP, Meneses said he still sees room for improvement.
“‘Yung NU, established na ‘yan talaga. Tinutulungan lang talaga natin na ma-improve pa nang mas maganda. Hopefully, ‘yung buong sistema ng NU, mas mag-combine para mas matibay. ‘Yung UAAP, test para sa’min ‘yan.”
Meneses said: “Malaking challenge yung UAAP kasi para sa’kin, ‘yan talaga ‘yung pinaka-magandang labanan, school vs school. Galing na ko diyan, talagang napaka-competitive ng bawat school so excited na kong makabalik sa UAAP.
“Hindi ko na matandaan [huling sabak ko sa UAAP], pero excited akong matulungan ‘yung NU na ma-defend ‘yung crown nila.”
With Creamline and then NU under his command, Meneses has become a towering figure in the dog-eat-dog world of women's volleyball where every team, pro or college, is looking for that extra edge to come out on top.
Meneses obviously likes the challenge and the additional physical demands that it entails. Recently, he traveled from Ilocos Sur to coach Creamline and then returned to Manila less than 24 hours later to be with NU in a previous tournament. Not surprisingly, both trips produced wins.
One move led to another
The NU job, however, did not come in a silver platter. Two other hotshot coaches were reportedly also considered - Akari and Alas Pilipinas Girls head coach Taka Minowa and incumbent Alas Women mentor Jorge Souza de Brito.
But NU decided to go with Meneses. Whether it is the right decision will be known later when the UAAP women's volleyball tournament gets underway.
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