Unless Ateneo de Manila University gives him the boot, Oliver Almadro will stay as head coach of its women’s volleyball team.
Almadro said he has yet to receive word from the school so he is staying put as head coach of the Blue Eagles in Season 86 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
The Blue Eagles came up with a disappointing finish in the previous UAAP season as they failed to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2009.
They finished the season with a dismal 4-10 win-loss mark despite the presence of stars like Faith Nisperos, AC Miner, Vannie Gandler and Roma Doromal, sparking speculations that Almadro is on the way out after coaching the team for the past five years.
But Almadro doused cold water to the burning speculations.
“I’m just here, waiting for what’s going to be the announcement,” Almadro said after his club team, Petro Gazz, suffered a 25-18, 18-25, 21-25, 22-25 loss to PLDT in the opener of the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference last Tuesday.
“As coaches, we are only as good as our last performance. No matter the sacrifice, our job as a coach is never an easy one. We have to take care of our players, their mentality, character, holistic values, life, formation, and the result is not always better than performance.”
The UAAP coaching carousel has been spinning wildly the past couple of weeks.
Tina Salak resigned from coaching Far Eastern University to move to the United States while National University welcomed the return of Normal Miguel after sacking Karl Dimaculangan.
Adamson University recently released head coach Jerry Yee and replaced him with Junior Lady Falcons head coach JP Yude.
Yee transferred to University of the East, replacing Ronwald Dimaculangan.
Almadro said it’s now up to the school to decide his fate.
“Right now, I’m staying put. Whatever happens, I haven’t received an official statement yet. I just want to get the right announcement,” Almadro said.
“Whatever plans they have, I will abide to it.”
