Jaja Santiago’s journey to joining the Japan women’s national volleyball team has officially begun.
The Japan Volleyball Association (JVA) announced on Friday that the 28-year-old Filipina middle blocker will join the Japanese national team’s training camp along with Cuban Melissa Valdez as trainees.
There have been reports last year that Santiago, a staple in the Philippine women’s national volleyball team, skipped the 32nd Southeast Asian Games as she was at the moment pursuing Japanese citizenship.
Taka Minowa, the husband of Santiago who is currently coaching Nxled in the Premier Volleyball League, welcomed the former PVL MVP in a tweet but cleared that her wife has yet to gain naturalization.
“She’ll join the Japan national team training camp, she hasn’t get naturalization yet but this opportunity really big step for her dream. Welcome to Japan’s national team,” said Minowa on X.
The 6-foot-4 National University product has been playing in the V.League since 2018.
Santiago, a one-time Japan V.League champion, started her stint with the Ageo Medics before eventually transferring to JT Marvelous in the recently concluded season, where they finished second after losing to the NEC Red Rockets.
