SUBIC–John Vic de Guzman, the long-time Philippine skipper and one of the team’s biggest draws, happily joined the tryouts for the National men’s volleyball squad here on Wednesday morning at the Subic gym here.

And like the rest of the attendees, de Guzman was pleased with what he saw and made to do.

“Bale maayos naman, una nakakatuwa kase batch per batch yung try out, nakakatuwa kase ibig sabihin sobrang dami umattend. Makikita mo din na talagang gustong gusto ng lahat na makapasok sa national team,” said De Guzman.

“Masaya din kami kasi sobrang organized ng try out lalo na pagdating sa safety protocols,” the former NCAA champion from College of Saint Benilde added after the tryouts conducted by Dante Alinsunurin.

De Guzman was a member of the silver medal team in the last 30th Southeast Asian Games two years ago, which made up for the disappointing fifth place finish of the women’s team backstopped by the country’s finest spikers like Alyssa Valdez and Aby Marano.

JP Bugaoan (Cignal), Kim Dayadante (Go for Gold), Anthony Ekwenugo (USC), Mark Enciso (IEM), Alche Gupiteo (UST), Noel Kampton (DLSU), Kim Malabunga (Go for Gold), Chumson Njigha Jr. (Ateneo), Leo Ordiales (NU), Ish Polvorosa (Cignal), Jian Matthee Salarzon (Bacolod) and Manuel Sumanguid (Cignal) also took part of the AM training.

In the afternoon session, Rex Intal (Cignal),

Nico Almendras (NU/Sta. Elena), Leo Aringo (NU), Lloyd Josafat (UE/PLDT), Joeven dela Vega (Navy), Jack Kalingking (Navy), Ricky Marcos (Go for Gold), Louie Ramirez (Perpetual),

Ysay Marasigan (Cignal), Banjo Mondero (NU/Sta. Elena), John Mark Ronquillo (DLSU),

Kharyl Parce (NU), Rayver Sison (Davao) and Francis Saura (Go for Gold) also joined in displaying their skills.

Bryan Bagunas, who is currently with Japan V.League club Oita Miyoshi, missed the tryout as he is currently completing a 14-day quarantine period.

Aside from height, which will be the key if the Philippines wants to be at par with regional heavyweights Indonesia and Thailand, Alinsunurin is putting emhahsis on the young athletes for the long term program.

Also, Alinsunurin simply wanted to have the aspirants follow the policies that the PNVF has set to the letter.

“Hopefully, maayos lahat ng schedules as soon as possible, kase matagal nawalan ng training, yung muscles nag iba, buti may basic kaya kahit papaano sa try out nakakagalaw,” said De Guzman.

“Training program tiwala kami sa coaches dahil maganda at ready lagi ang training program nila para sa atin. Sa ngayon wala na tayong dapat aksayahin ng oras, Papalapit na ng papalapit ang SEA Games, kailangan makahabol tayo sa panahon na na stop kami sa volleyball and hopefully, at pinagdadasal namin na maging maayos ang lahat,” he added.

Meanwhile, the tryouts will shift to the nearby Subic Tennis Courts today with the women invitees in the morning and the men aspirants in the afternoon.