Alas Pilipinas Men sharpened their skills in Europe ahead of the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championship.
Now back in Manila, Alas Pilipinas hopes to apply the many lessons they have picked up from a three-country training camp in Europe ahead of the 2025 FIVB Men’s World Championships this September.
The Nationals spent most of August training across Morocco, Romania, and Portugal, where they faced taller and stronger talents in order to prepare for their historic World Championship debut on home soil.
While it’s true that Alas Men are at a physical disadvantage, setter Owa Retamar shared that playing with European talents helped them realize that skills can and will always be the great equalizer.
“At first, I was a bit nervous because everyone there is so tall, we felt like high schoolers compared to them,” Retamar said. “But we’re happy because we realized that even we’re smaller, we can still keep up with them.”
“They have a height advantage, but we can match their skills…our training camp has been exhausting, but it was so worth it, and it helped us a lot.”
Alas Pilipinas Men will open their World Championship campaign this September 12 against world no. 42 Tunisia, before turning their attention to world no. 23 Egypt on September 16, and world no. 13 Iran on September 18 to cap off Pool A action.
Leading the Nationals’ provisional 21-man roster is the vaunted pairing of Marck Espejo and Bryan Bagunas, and are accompanied by a mix of other veteran talents and young guns from both the Spikers’ Turf and the UAAP.
On a personal note, Retamar is expected to be one of Alas’ veterans should he make the Final 14 for the World Championship, especially now that he’s taken up-and-coming playmakers Eco Adajar and Elijah Tae-yin Kim under his wing.
“The three of us really support each other, especially during games. We always talk about strategies to score quickly, so we’ve become a great trio on the court,” he said. “Even now, I still struggle to act like a senior on the team. That’s why Kuya Bryan [Bagunas] and Kuya Marck [Espejo] always remind me that I need to step up and be a leader.”
Retamar, once the Philippines’ youngest player during their historic 2019 Southeast Asian Games silver medal, added: “I’m improving in a lot of ways, even my attitude when it comes to volleyball. Even if I can’t always show it or do what’s expected of me right away, I’m really trying, for myself and for my team.”
Banner image from the Asian Volleyball Confederation.