WHEN BASHING IS A GOOD THING

courtesy of sports.inquirere.net

Officials, coaches and even players of LVPI are getting their fair share of bashing in social media.

While I usually do not condone it, bashing, as applied to LVPI officials, coaches and players is somehow warranted. We have to bear in mind that LVPI took it upon itself to improve the state of volleyball in the Philippines. It shamelessly took away from PVF the responsibility to "save" volleyball from further deterioration. It destroyed a national team program that PVF started which was supported by the biggest companies in the country. It destroyed a grassroots program that would have ensured the continuity of a sound and effective national team program.

After three years in power, LVPI only has dead-last finishes and massacres of its teams to show off. At the last Asian Women's Club Championship. the PSL-Rebisco team finished dead last and was badly beaten by unknown club teams. Despite the presence of volleyball "superstars" in its teams, LVPI teams continue to falter and fail to win medals for the country.

LVPI officials, including their coaches and players, should know by now that it will really take 5-10 years of a comprehensive and effective national team program for the Philippines to finally win in international tournaments. What LVPI offers is palliative by forming teams that merely practice a month before their tournament. The teams have tune-up games in China and Japan which LVPI thinks will turn the teams competitive overnight. And LVPI turns to media for hype which only frustrates the volleyball community once results from tournaments come in. For the SEA Games, LVPI dares to say to media that it hopes for a silver medal finish for its team in women's volleyball. This comes after finishing fifth in a field of six teams two years ago.

So I say let the bashings continue. Hopefully, the bashings will force LVPI officials, coaches and players to shape up and have the initiative to do well in a task that it took on without a blink of an eye.