Brazilian tactician Jorge Souza de Brito will continue to lead the women's team of Alas Pilipinas until the 2025 SEA Games.
Brazilian tactician Jorge Souza de Brito will be staying on as the head coach of the Alas Pilipinas women's squad until the 2025 Southeast Asian Games, the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) announced on Friday.
PNVF president Ramon "Tats" Suzara made the announcement alongside national team commission chairperson Tonyboy Liao, team captain Jia Morado-de Guzman, and team manager Hollie Reyes.
"After careful thoughts, consideration and consultation with the PNVF board, I would like to officially announce that we would like to retain Coach Jorge until the SEA Games 2025," said Suzara after Alas Pilipinas' exhibition match in South Korea.
"There are so many events up ahead for Alas Pilipinas, so let’s continue supporting the team and the program," Suzara added.
De Brito’s three-year contract under the FIVB’s Empowerment Program is supposed to expire at the end of the month and head Chinese Taipei next.
[ALSO READ: AVC: Jorge Souza De Brito focuses on bronze bid of Alas Pilipinas over contract extension]
But the PNVF made an appeal to FIVB, citing clamors to keep the coach after Alas Pilipinas' historic bronze medal run in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup.
[ALSO READ: Key takeaways from Alas Pilipinas’ historic campaign in 2024 AVC Challenge Cup]
The Philippine federation is taking steps to ensure the program's continuity, declaring that the Alas Pilipinas roster would remain intact for future competitions.
This would include the FIVB Volleyball Women's Challenger Cup next month at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, as well as the 33rd Southeast Asian Games next year in Thailand.
[ALSO READ: Alas Pilipinas to stay intact along with Bella Belen, Alyssa Solomon, Casiey Dongallo, says PNVF]
However, there's still a long way to go for Alas, as the Filipinas fell in five sets to local Korean club Powerful Daegu on Friday. The match was part of the 75th year celebration of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and South Korea.