WITH almost a week left before the 2025 SEA V.League, Alas Pilipinas head coach Jorge Souza de Brito has yet to lock in his final 14 for Leg 1 of the regional meet from August 1 to 3 in Thailand and Leg 2 from August 8 to 10 in Vietnam.
He may have a stacked player pool to choose from, but there’s one particular practice the Brazilian mentor has been inclined to since taking over the reins of the national team.
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Converting players from their natural playing positions to different roles has been a signature maneuver of his that has worked wonders for the most part.
Most notably, natural outside spiker Angel Canino was fielded as an opposite spiker in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Women.
There, Alas not only won a historic bronze on home soil, but Canino even won her very first best opposite spiker award over some of Asia’s finest wingers.
In succeeding competitions, the likes of outside spiker Jema Galanza and middle blocker Cherry Nunag were utilized as liberos in the 2024 FIVB Challenger Cup.
Most recently, setter Tia Andaya and outside spiker Brooke Van Sickle also played as opposite spikers in the 2025 VTV Cup earlier this month.
For de Brito, such player conversions are done out of necessity and is also a good challenge on adaptability and versatility.
“I’m really happy because if we’ll have any problem during any competition, we can use any player to do another position,” de Brito said.
“We have to maximize our potential to play against these teams so we have to bring them all the time. We were there [in the 2025 VTV Cup] with only one opposite, so we need to put some other players to [fill] the position.
“That’s what missing sometimes, but again, there are 14 players that we’ll bring there. They’re gonna be there, the guys that we choose.”
Building a team, not just stars
Factors such as player fitness and availability also both affect how the national team will take shape for a particular competition.
These are two key considerations de Brito takes into account, as he always aims to build a cohesive unit with the right pieces rather than just handpick the biggest names there is from both the college ranks and the pros.
"I really believe that we need a core of players. We need to bring this core to many competitions and have time to practice," de Brito said.
"Of course, you can put up [big] names. These names are good, but we need to grow as a team and not just adding star players that are really good. We need to put them inside a system, then lock them in that system and they [should] feel comfortable there.
"It’s the chemistry that we need. It comes with more time, how much more we play together, how much more good games in the high level that we’ll have, and the more we’re gonna grow."
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