Nx led Chameleons’ Filipino-Italian Chiara Permentilla during a PVL All-Filipino Conference game. -PVL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Chiara Permentilla is making the most of her Italian connection with coach Ettore Guidetti as the new Nxled tactician infuses a fighting mentality into her team in the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference.
The Filipino-Italian star player is relieved that she no longer has a language barrier with her new coach, but sometimes her coach gives her instructions in Italian to share with the Chameleons.
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“There is definitely a connection and sometimes when he wants to say something to me quickly during games and in training, he says it in Italian to make it faster,” said Permentilla, who had a solid performance with 21 and 15 points receptions and 10 digs in their 15-25, 17-25, 25-22, 22-25 loss to PLDT on Tuesday at Philsports Arena.
SCHEDULE: PVL All-Filipino Conference 2024-2025
“I’m very grateful that he doesn’t treat me differently just because I’m also from Italy; he is very fair. When I first met him he said to me: “I don’t care where you come from or what type of player you are.” “I only care about what you do on the field and how you help your teammates. “He watches everything,” she added.
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Guidetti added that he also sometimes speaks Italian when speaking to Permentilla so that opponents don’t understand their game.
“It helps to give one of my players a signal in a language only we understand. Plus, you all speak better English than me. So when I give instructions in English, especially loudly, the other team – the blockers or the front row – can understand what I’m saying. Sometimes it’s just better to use a little Italian trick,” said the new Nxled coach.
Nxled trainer Ettore Guidetti. –PVL PHOTO
The Italian coach said they knew they could close the gap and compete against the league’s top teams, stressing that the Chameleons just had to keep fighting and learn from their mistakes.
“If we give 100 percent effort, it is clear that there are people who are perhaps higher than us, who can hit harder than us, but we can work on the system itself. We can completely reduce the number of mistakes and then it becomes clear that this is a defensive and fighting team,” said Guidetti. “So we can be part of the conference, which is really important. That’s something we want to bring with us after this game.”
READ: PVL: Chiara Permentilla has the best game since her long return from injury
Guidetti, who coached VNL star Isabelle Haak and other leagues in Sweden, Poland, Romania and Italy, is honored to be part of PVL’s rise.
“I think this start of the new conference is on a higher level. I see a lot of teams really strengthening the team, apart from not having any foreigners there. But the teams look better, so the value goes up every year, season after season. This is something very good. Of course, if we start applying different rules, the level will develop immediately,” said the Italian.
“If we want to develop the local players, they have to play. I agree. Even if we don’t showcase the best volleyball in the world, having an all-Filipino conference is extremely important right now.”
As an experienced spiker, Permentilla vows to set a good example for the determined Chameleons.
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“I really want to help the team improve in any way I can. The coach always reminds us that we can’t control what happens in the game – we can only control what we do every day in training. “So if you give 100% in training, it will definitely show in the game,” said Permentilla.