In the Manila hosting of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Owa Retamar and the Philippine men’s national volleyball team made waves for the sport. Now, they have the chance to do it again in the 2025 FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship.
The opportunity to grow men’s volleyball exponentially in the Philippines has presented itself to Owa Retamar and Alas Pilipinas, six years after a historic silver medal finish at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in Manila, with the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships.
Already a part of the national team at that time when he was 19 years old, Retamar saw the immediate impact in terms of popularity and support for the men’s team.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic the next year stopped any momentum in cultivating the sport in the country.
Now as the Philippines gets ready to host the biggest tournament in men’s volleyball, Retamar believes that the time is ripe for another chance at building towards a better environment for the growth of the sport across the country.
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“Ang maganda lang ngayon is syempre galing dun sa silver, and ngayon, mapapakita ulit ng men’s volleyball ng Pilipinas kung ano 'yung napagtrabahuhan namin. Nag-training camp kami, nakapag-start ulit kami mag-compete, and may mga bago and mga batang nakasama sa team na ‘to,” Retamar told One Sports during the MRT 3 Go Live event earlier this week.
“So maganda ang makikita ng Pilipinas, ng bawa’t isa na andito na kahit papano, kaya din sumabay ng mga Pilipino,” he added.
Making their debut in the tournament, Alas Pilipinas has the chance to etch their names in history with a win against higher-ranked teams in their group — including their opening match against World No. 43 Tunisia on September 12.
With the world changing in the past six years, Retamar and the rest of the team has also been growing their game. After making his mark in the national team during the biennial tournament, the playmaker said that he has moved forward since.
Thanks to current coaching staff Angiolino Frigoni and Alejandro Aldana, Retamar said that he was introduced to a brand new brand of Philippine volleyball.
“Siguro ang pinakamalaking growth na nakita ko sa sarili ko sa tulong ni coach Angiolino at ni coach Alejandro, pinaintindi niya talaga sakin kung ano 'yung level ng volleyball sa international,” he said.
But growth will have to translate into results when Alas makes its debut on the world stage.
Facing tougher teams after Tunisia like World No. 23 Egypt and World No. 13 Iran, Alas will have its work cut out for them.
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Fans can catch the action live by purchasing tickets on the tournament website. Games will be played across two venues in the preliminary round — the Mall of Asia Arena and the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The final phase will be held exclusively at MOA Arena.
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