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Adamson Lady Falcons’ assistant coach Bang Pineda. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.net

Treating her players like teammates makes Bang Pineda’s job as an assistant coach for the Adamson Lady Falcons’ easier.

In her first coaching gig in the collegiate ranks, Pineda has been instilling in the young Lady Falcons not to think of her as one of JP Yude’s assistant coaches but treat her as a teammate for them to build a stronger coach-player bond.

“I’m just enjoying [my new job] and every time I’m with the players because I treat them as teammates so they won’t be shy to ask for help,” said Pineda in Filipino.

“Like what I do to my teammates, I tell them the lapses I saw from the sidelines and I share the things they can do to address it.”

The former Adamson spiker, who played in the UAAP from 2010 to 2014, relished the opportunity to serve her alma mater in a different capacity. She is helping out coach Yude in rebuilding the Lady Falcons, who are ushering in a new era after the departure of several key players.

STAYING PATIENT

Pineda, who is now the libero of Akari in the Premier Volleyball League, admitted that it was hard having to stay on the sidelines after first, feeling the urge to want to enter the court and play to help her team.

But as the Shakey’s Super League National Invitationals campaign went by, Pineda became more patient and has adjusted to her new role as an assistant coach.

“During our first few games, it felt like I wanted to play inside the court to help them,” she said in Filipino. “But now, I already controlled my emotions because I am also taking care of the statistics during games so I can help in coach Yude’s input.”

Adamson Lady Falcons’ assistant coach Bang Pineda. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIREr.net

For the 32-year-old Pineda, it has not been hard to handle the resilient bunch of Lucille Almonte and the rest of the team, who stunned La Salle in five sets last Wednesday in Game 1 of the National Invitationals Finals.

“I’m so happy because the players are positively taking the advice from us, coaches. They didn’t back down and they played their hearts out and fought bravely,” she said after the Lady Falcons overcame an 11-20 deficit in the fourth set before upsetting the UAAP champion.

Keeping Adamson’s contender status in the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament isn’t a walk in the park for a team that lost the core of the Season 85 bronze medalist bannered by Louie Romero, Kate Santiago, Trisha Tubu, and three other Lady Falcons, who followed the suit of coach Jerry Yee after his removal from the post.

But the Philippine women’s volleyball team player is lucky to have fellow Adamsonian and former UAAP players, Yude and Leo Miranda, as coaches of the Lady Falcons.

“It feels good that we were playing for our school before and now we’re coaching the team together. We have the same ideas and we avoid misunderstandings,” Pineda said.

Pineda is also enjoying wearing two hats as a PVL player for the Akari Chargers and as an assistant coach for the Lady Falcons.

“It doesn’t create any conflict because I train with Akari in the morning and with Adamson in the afternoon. I have a chance to rest in between. I enjoy working on these two jobs,” she said.

Adamson tries to win its first championship under the new system of Yude and his coaching staff when it guns for a series sweep against La Salle in Game 2 on Saturday at 4 p.m.

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