Zus Thunderbelles’ Dolly Versoza Left Her Banking Job for Volleyball 

Photos: Chin Cabas

The former JRU player once let her dreams go for her family. Dolly Versoza has something to prove as someone who did not have connections to enter the professional league.

The pandemic opened her eyes to the real world. It’s not just a court and a playing field out there. Regular 9-to-5 jobs exist and as someone who had no experience on it, it was hard. 

“Naranasan ko talaga yung pandemic talaga, yung parang when pandemic hits you. Nawala yung business namin, nag back to zero kami, like business ng mama, biglang nawala din yung bahay namin.”

As a risk taker, she decided to apply at a bank as a teller to help her family out, admitting that volleyball was not something she saw as a long-term thing. At first, she didn’t think that she would get the job, given that she had no experience in job interviews. She says it was nothing like the interview you’d experience as an athlete and it was all new to her. 

“Naging teller ako sa a major bank, so taga bilang ako ng pera everyday. To sum up actually at first nahirapan ako kasi sanay ako na “ball is life”, and then eventually naging gusto ko na magwork kasi gusto ko tumulong sa parents ko, kasi nga dumaan yung pandemic, so medyo sinet aside ko yung passion ko for volleyball so inisip ko na ‘ah okay lang, ang volleyball hindi naman siya pang long term’.”

New beginnings are hard. She had to adjust to a new environment, which was not a walk in the park. Eager to help her parents out after the pandemic hit, she endured her longing for volleyball and sucked up her new regular day job. Eventually, she felt like everything that she was doing was redundant and it did not bring her any joy at all.

“While in the bank, every day I was sad, sobra kasi parang redundant na lang palagi yung ginagawa ko na parang ‘ah eto nanaman gagawin ko, nag bibilang ako ng pera, mag ccheck ako ng cheque’ something ganon, so napagdesisyunan ko na mag risk to go back here in Manila.”

For a girl with a fighting spirit like hers, goodbyes aren’t always sad. She left her bank job to go back to what she loves the most. Playing volleyball. Being someone who was not able to get into the professional league as soon as her collegiate career ended, she found her way back through her former teammates informing her about the open tryouts the Thunderbelles had. The joy she has for the sport is something she could not let go of. She says even though volleyball could be tiresome, it’s still something she’d want not to quit on and do every day.

“Yes prepared ako [to stick with a regular job], pero mas malaki pa din yung percentage na kailangan ko makapasok, minomotivate ko yung sarili ko na hindi, hindi ako babalik, andito na ako so why not ipush ko na talaga, ipush through ko na yung volleyball”

A girl who takes risks. For her, there is nothing to lose if you take the leap of faith. That’s her advice for people who can’t find the courage to choose what makes them happy. The fulfillment she got after pushing through her volleyball career after setting herself up with a 9-to-5 job was indeed one for the books.

“Take risk kasi ayun din yung ginawa ko kasi sa experience ko super worth it yung risk na yon and then dun mo iisipin kung saan ka hindi mag-sisisi whether win or loose atleast you tried to risk and mag-change ng career kesa sa mag stick ka in a situation na hindi ka naman masaya.”