One for Philippine Volleyball
The Philippine Superliga and the Premier Volleyball League may not see eye-to-eye on certain issues, but with the interest of the country at stake, both leagues have started to communicate to form a unified volleyball calendar.
Friday afternoon, PSL President Ramon Suzara and PVL President Richard Palou met at the Filoil Flying V Centre, formally starting talks of developing the aforementioned calendar, such that it will not coincide with international tournaments — including the 2017 Southeast Asian Games from August 19-31 and the 2017 Asian Women’s Volleyball Championship from August 9-17.
“The PSL and the PVL are initiating an agreement to fix the volleyball calendar for 2018. This is the support of the PSL and the PVL for the national team,” Suzara said.
“He wants to have a meeting with UAAP, NCAA and PVL para mag-ayusan ng schedule. Oo naman, I agree, I don’t see why not,” Palou added.
The 2017 PSL Season has already started with the Invitational Cup and will have the Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup, the All-Filipino Conference, and the Grand Prix on its calendar. On the other hand, the PVL will begin its season on Sunday, April 30, with the Reinforced Conference. It will then be followed by the Open Conference and the Collegiate Conference, which will most likely end in November.
Moving to the collegiate season, the NCAA begins its volleyball tournament in November and ends in January while its beach volleyball championships are held in February. The UAAP, meanwhile, opens its volleyball season with the beach volleyball tournament that occurs in the first semester of their calendar, while the volleyball tournament begins in February of 2018.
With the country gaining traction in the international volleyball community, both heads of the top volleyball leagues in the country want to have a conversation with each other and the collegiate leagues.
“We want to talk to the UAAP and the NCAA so that we can arrange a schedule that won’t conflict among the four leagues,” Suzara furthered.
“Hopefully, we can agree on one thing so that we can have a unified schedule and give volleyball in our country the right perspective.”
And this is the dream of every fan, every athlete, and every coach: to have unity.
