THE Philippine Volleyball Federation (PVF) finally broke its silence and answered Philippine Sports Commission beach volleyball consultant Eric Lecain, who has been questioning the federation about the recognition of Cebuanos as official members of the national team.
PVF president Karl Chan said that while the Cebuanos Jade Becaldo and Loujei Tipgos and Edmar Bonono and Edward Ybañez are already considered members of the training pool, they could not just be rewarded with slots to the main team as this needs to undergo evaluation by the board of directors.
Chan added that athletes also need to submit a recommendation letter but added that Lecain has failed to do so.
“Lecain has not submitted a formal recommendation paper that will undergo scrutiny and we will see to it that the players have passed the criteria for selection,” said Chan.
The evaluation will be based on the athletes’ skills and their performance in international competitions.
The other day, Lecain, who accompanied the team in the recent Asian Beach Games in Thailand, said that he was hoping the federation will just hand the players slots to the RP team.
“Let’s make sure the hardest opponent is not our own federation,” said Lecain.
Lecain brought two teams to the beach games. Team A is composed of Becaldo and Tipgos and they reached the Round of 16, while Bono and Ybañez exited the tournament way earlier.
Should a player make it to the national team, they will be recieving monthly stipends and medical benefits.
Chan said they see potential in the Cebu team but added that they are very careful about who to name to the national team after a 2012 fiasco that led to the teams being disbanded.
In 2012, PSC chairman Richie Garcia was disappointed after the national team was beaten by the Cebu City team members in the Philippine National Game.
Later on, he found out about a false report made by the men’s team members claiming they were training as a team complete with falsified attendance reports.
Meanwhile, Chan said the national governing body for volleyball is looking to stage a national beach volleyball circuit next year.
This tournament will be patterned after the tournament in the US and will be used to identify players who will represent the country in major international tournaments.
“I believe this would be a fair venue to select the players for the job,” said Chan.
Chan said if plans pan out the way they want, they will send the top players in the circuit to the Southeast Asian Games.
Chan added that PVF is also considering identifying a beach volleyball training hub around the country and have already considered Cebu in the Visayas and Tagum in Mindanao. ISL