Bagging historic AVC Challenge Cup bronze sweeter in front of home crowd, says Alas Pilipinas coach

MANILA, Philippines – Making history is always a delight for any head coach in any sport, but making it in front of a packed home stadium? Nothing compares.

At least, that’s how Alas Pilipinas head coach Jorge Souza De Brito felt after helping lead the Philippines to its first-ever podium finish in the AVC Challenge Cup on Wednesday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Despite only days of preparation heading into the pocket tournament, De Brito’s wards, flanked by a mix of young guns and veterans, exceeded expectations after sweeping the competition in pool play to head to their first-ever semis stint.

Though losing to Kazakhstan in the knockout semis, Alas was able to rebound in time with a three-set whooping of Australia, 25-23, 25-15, 25-7, to win the country’s first medal in program history in the regional tiff.

Doing it in front of thousands of fans who braved the rain, De Brito said it made it all the more sweeter.

“Really, I’m happy and I’m grateful. I have no words to express how happy I am and also, not for myself only, I told these guys in the beginning, they deserve a lot. They really deserve it. They fight every single day, since they are really young to make history here, and now history has been made because of them, because they trusted themselves today, they came. I’m happy because of that,” said De Brito. 

“I’m happy because it was here that we got a medal, here, inside our place, our home, our venue, in front of everyone. So I’m really happy that we get to celebrate with everyone.”

Each game day for Alas meant a packed stadium in Rizal Memorial Coliseum, as the volleyball community continued to show up for the national team. After celebrating the wins and staying through the losses, the Filipino volleyball fans have finally been treated to a podium finish.

An optimistic start to the future, De Brito hopes it won’t take as long as it did to win a medal in the Challenge Cup for the next national team squad to step on the podium.

“Hopefully, they don’t take too long like the 45 years, like this one, [for the next medal]. So if we give a good program, if we keep bringing the young guys, mixing with the older players that we have here, I think, you know, we don’t have to wait too much. The last thing [we need to do] is, work, work, work hard, and trust,” he said.

Next up for the national team is the 2024 AVC Challenger Cup slated for July, and after working with this particular group, De Brito believes maintaining this core is the way to go.

“Hopefully, hopefully. We don’t know, but hopefully most of them [come back].”