Nxled head coach Taka Minowa wore a big smile during his first-ever Premier Volleyball League game last Sunday, but that doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing for the Japanese head coach.
The former Ageo Medics assistant coach admitted to feeling nervous as soon as he woke up on the day of the Chameleons’ debut match against Gerflor in the Second All-Filipino Conference at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
He mentioned, “Today I woke up, and that’s when I started feeling a lot of pressure. Even during this week, I haven’t been getting enough sleep due to the pressure.
“But I’m trying to keep a smile because I always tell the players, ‘Don’t forget to smile.’ But my body is kind of shaking. I’m so excited to coach here. Even though my English is not good, they are trying to understand,” he added.
Minowa’s PVL debut turned out to be a successful one as Nxled defeated Gerflor in straight sets, with scores of 25-18, 25-14, 25-19, securing an opening day win in the season-ending conference.
The Chameleons relied on the duo of Lycha Ebon and Jho Maraguinot, who contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Krisch Macaslang and May Luna added seven points each in the victory.
Despite the decent performance from his newly-formed squad, Minowa remains unsatisfied with how the team performed and believes they can do better. Still, he’s happy with the team’s progress over time.
“Today we won 3-0, but our performance is not yet good, especially given our tune-up matches before this competition. In practice, they have been performing well,” said the 32-year-old Japan women’s national volleyball team assistant coach.
“In the tune-ups, their performance was not good, which was a problem, but today, it’s still not good, but it’s getting better. We need to adjust and prepare. Maybe next time we will be more successful.”
