The Philippines beach volleyball teams are currently training at the sand courts of Phil Sports Complex in Pasig city, as part of their preparation for the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in 2023.
The men’s and women’s beach volleyball squads are seeking to surpass their bronze medal finishes last year in Vietnam. With a new Brazilian coach guiding them, they hope to finally get the elusive gold.
Representing the women’s team are Jovelyn Gonzaga, Sisi Rondina, Bernadette Pons and Dij Rodriguez.
Rondina and Gonzaga were crowned champions after beating Jen Eslapor and Rodriguez at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures in Subic last December.
The men’s team members are Alnakran Abdilla, Jaron Requinton, Jude Garcia and James Buytrago.
Except for Buytrago, all are returning to the region's biggest sporting event with the hope of improving their bronze medal finishes in 2022 edition held in Vietnam.
The beach volleyball teams will head to Brazil for their training camp starting April 13 to 28 before going back to Manila to wrap up their training.
Per the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF), Joao Luciano Simao Barbosa will coach the beach volleyball squads.
He will be helped by Romnick Rico (assistant coach) and Rosemarie Prochina (team manager) in the women’s team and Rhovyl Verayo (assistant coach) in the men’s squad with John Paulo Agir as strength and conditioning coach.
The beach volleyball competition in the Cambodia SEA Games starts on May 11 at Otres Beach in Preah Sihanouk (Sihanoukville) Province with the finals of both divisions on May 16.
