Raffy Mosuela named Akari Chargers interim coach

MANILA, Philippines — Raffy Mosuela will call the shots for the Akari Chargers on an interim basis in the 2024 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season, which starts in February.

The Chargers on Monday announced the promotion of Mosuela, who has been with Akari since last year as part of Jorge Souza de Brito’s coaching staff.

Mosuela will work hand in hand with Nxled Japanese coach Taka Minowa, who also serves as the director of volleyball operations for both the Chargers and the Chameleons.

The former Philippine Airforce player admitted that it’s a big challenge to handle a team in the pros but he promised to apply all the learnings he got from De Brito, who resigned last December, and make the most of Minowa’s contribution to the Chargers.

“Actually, it’s a big challenge for me and the coaching staff but we’ve been able to adjust so far. With regard to the system, coach Taka has some inputs but it’s still us coaches who are establishing the system,” Mosuela told reporters in Filipino.

“The system has a mix of Brazilian and Japanese that’s why we’ve been getting good inputs from the coaches,”From the system of Brazilian going to the system of Japanese, nagmimix talaga yung system kaya maganda naman yung mga naging inputs sa akin ng mga coaches,” he added.

He will be handling new recruit and fellow San Sebastian product Grethcel Soltones, Faith Nisperos, Fifi Sharma, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Bang Pineda, and Ced Domingo, who will join the team after her Thailand stint.

Mosuela is grateful to have the Nxled coach on their side as he has been helping in the development of his players and the improvement of their system ahead of the PVL first conference next month.

“When it comes to system, system ng coaches naguusap kami [with coach Taka]. But pagdating sa games more on tactical sa amin pa rin,” he said. “Very informative lahat ng mga binibigay sa amin. Upon training pag may kailangan siya pumapasok siya to share his inputs sa individual skills ng mga bata.”

Coming off Akari’s best outing yet with a 5-6 finish in the second All-Filipino Conference, Mosuela is eager to help the Chargers reach the top four and he hopes that Minowa’s presence would improve their floor defense to solidify their team, which excelled in blocking last year.