Alas Pilipinas Women head coach Jorge de Brito. SAVA/Facebook
MANILA — Amid heavy criticism from the Filipino volleyball community, Alas Pilipinas Women's head coach Jorge de Brito said he's shutting out the noise, focusing only on his national team duties.
During the second leg of the SEA Women's V.League 2025, the hashtag "#OustDeBrito" went viral on social media, and some even launched a signature campaign to amplify calls for his exit as head coach of the women's national volleyball squad.
But for De Brito, he doesn't mind about it as he remains undistracted with the task at hand — to keep elevating the Alas Women's program.
Fresh from back-to-back SEA V.League bronze medals, the Alas Women tactician, as well as players Jia de Guzman, Dawn Catindig, Vanie Gandler, and Alleiah Malaluan, on Tuesday took part in a promotional LRT-2 ride for the upcoming Philippine-hosted FIVB Men's World Championship 2025.
READ: Alas Pilipinas repeats over Indonesia, takes another SEA V.League bronze
"For the first time in [my] life, I hear from someone [that people are] criticizing [me], because I don't look at the news," De Brito told reporters.
"It's always [them] who put what I say; but I really don't care about what they say because they are not there every day," he added.
The Brazilian mentor asserted that the players are "on the same page" with the coaches, including him.
READ: Jia de Guzman on SEA V.League bronze medals: 'These are building blocks of what we want to do'
"They don't work with the players every day, and my players are really connected with us — on the same, same page. We just work and work hard and work properly to defend the flag. That's it."
De Brito appealed for support from the hardcore national team fans as they seek redemption in the SEA Games in December.
"For the fans, I think they have to keep on doing what they do. It means supporting the team because on our side, we're going to do the same. We're going to work hard because, you know, it's not just a team. It's a team that represents a country, represents a flag," he said.
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