Like a daughter accompanied by a proud father, University of the East Lady Warriors ace libero Kath Arado entered Arellano University with interim head coach Rod Roque with the hopes of being drafted for the national team. The two arrived as early as 4:40pm in the venue for the scheduled 5:00pm tryout.
“She was sent a letter inviting her to join the tryout. Dapat nung first tryout pa but then again that was the thirteenth, Friday last week eh may laro kami kinabukasan,” shared Roque.
The 19-year-old libero confessed that she had been very nervous heading in to the tryouts. As a young libero who is just slowly building up her name, having been invited to try out with Philippines’ best gave her jitters. She needed someone to come with her to the Arellano University.
“Actually kasi nung binigay ni [Sir Rod] sa akin yung invitation, sabi ko ‘Sir, ikaw di ka po ba pupunta?’ So kanina mga bandang four o’clock pm dumaan ako sa office niya,” Arado narrated.
“Sabi ko, ‘Sir pupunta ka po ba?’. So sabi niya, ‘Sige hahatid na lang kita. Huwag kang mag-alala, sasamahan kita’. Sabi ko, ‘Sir thank you, kinakahaban po kasi talaga ako eh.'”
True enough, her coach accompanied her and even stayed during the drills up until the scrimmage.
“Kaya ayun habang tumatagal, nawawala yung kaba ko.
“Siyempre si Sir Rod Roque, known talaga eh. Tapos siya pa kasama ko, parang siya yung guardian ko papunta dito. Nakaka overwhelm saka sobrang supportive talaga ni Sir Roque sa amin,” she furthered.
The UE volleyball program is not one of the top collegiate volleyball programs in the country, which is why having a Lady Warrior in Kath Arado invited to tryout for the Philippine Women’s National Volleyball Team makes Rod Roque beam with pride.
“Super-duper mega-to-the-max yung pagka-proud ko sa kanya kasi hard worker yung bata eh.
“Kaya sinabi ko bago we left today na ‘don’t get intimidated’, ang dami kasi diyan mga seniors eh kaya don’t get intimidated with them. Sabi ko show them who Kath Arado is,” added Roque, who left in the middle of the tryouts to go back to his office in University of the East which is just two blocks away from Arellano University.
Arado was also giddy at the thought of representing her university at Wednesday’s tryouts.
“Kahit saan naman ako napunta dala dala ko naman yung school ko eh.
“Kasi unang-una, sa UE talaga ako nakilala. Kung di dahil sa UE, walang mga opportunity na kagaya nito. Kaya kahit saan, kahit ‘di na ako naglalaro, tatak UE pa din. Tatak UE Lady Warriors pa rin,” she shared.
During the tryout, she played alongside multi-titled liberos Denden Lazaro and Dawn Macandili. To Arado’s credit, she fared well and did not pale in comparison.
“Masaya po ako, sobrang nakaka-overwhelm kasi siyempre as a libero hindi naman talaga kami ganun napapansin kasi ang napapansin talaga mostly sa game is yung mga scoring skills talaga,” she expressed. “Ang saya lalo na si coach Ramil [De Jesus] yung nag-invite.
“Nakakataba lang ng puso na na-invite ako sa tryout.”
No matter what happens, whether she gets enlisted or not, she already treats the opportunity to try out as a huge honor.
