Volleyball superstar Alyssa Valdez shared how she initially was scared to find out more about herself outside of her comfort zone. During the recent episode of hit podcast Paano Ba ‘To by Bianca Gonzalez, the former Pinoy Big Brother housemate expressed some realizations she had now that she isn’t getting any younger.

Alyssa has been playing volleyball for almost two decades already–– starting from her humble beginnings in Batangas up to now where she acts as the team captain of champion team Creamline Cool Smashers.

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In her interview, the “Phenom” expressed how her life had previously just been going around volleyball and improving her craft. She revealed that she made sure back then to never go out before a game or even a training day as she considered it as a distraction.

“Since high school siguro [or] elementary, I have to make sure that if there are game days or basta may training, hindi ako lalabas. I want to focus on improving myself, I feel like those are distractions. Hindi ko naseseparate yung distractions to inspirations pa noon. Di ko pa nasasabi na itong bagay pala na ito nakakatulong to balance and nakakarecharge ka rin pala,” she admitted. 

Alyssa added that her time inside the PBB house became a game changer for her in terms of her outlook in life as it allowed her to see what truly is important for her. She explained that she entered PBB wanting to explore and allowing her to know herself deeper beyond being an athlete.

This, admittedly, gave her doubts once more about the career path she’d like to take in the future. 

“Siguro may second coming na parang kailangan mo na talaga mag isip–– think outside of the box. I mean we all know––athletes, women athletes, women in sports–– alam namin kahit papaano may timeline naman kami,” she shared.

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“If we want to have a family, if we want to have a baby, siyempre you wanna make sure na healthy ka rin to carry that baby or pregnancy. Yun na din yung mga nasa isip ko and I think at 30, it’s fair enough to think of that to think of your future,” she added.

The volleyball champion added that she is giving herself more time to have a work-life balance and tries other things outside of the sport she still continues to love. She claimed that while she is learning life outside volleyball, she is continuing to circle around it as it gave her all the lessons she needed in real life.

“At first, nakakatakot lumabas sa sport but then when I tried to experience things nga, parang lahat pala talaga ng natututunan namin pwede siya sa labas or in real life,” she continued.

“Iba lang din pala ka pag binabalance mo yung work-life ba… I have more time with myself, with my family, and di naman pala siya masama. Ang galing lang. I would say if wala akong realization, hindi ko rin talaga gagawin,” she said.

Apart from playing professionally, Alyssa is giving back to the volleyball community through her the Alyssa Valdez Youth Volleyball Camp where she provides free training clinics for young volleyball players ages 9 to 12.