The Philippine Superliga is set to roll out its very first collegiate tournament when its All-Filipino Conference fires off.
PSL chairman Philip Ella Juico said the PSL Collegiate Grand Slam (CGS) promises to be another action-packed battle, as it features the country’s brightest collegiate players in preparation for their potential career in the semi-professional league.
The tournament will be played every Saturday.
PSL rules will also be applied, and teams will be given a chance to use the challenge system to make sure that the officiating will be on-par with the international standard.
Headlining the field are the 2018 PVL Women’s Collegiate Conference champions UP Lady Maroons. UAAP rivals UST Golden Tigresses, FEU Lady Tamaraws, and UE Lady Warriors will also join the fray. Completing the field are the DLSU-Dasmariñas Lady Patriots and the Colegio San Agustin-Binan Eagles.
Juico said they expect more teams to jump in when the tourney goes full blast next year.
“We want to explore the possibility of having a strong collegiate league,” said Juico. “We have six teams in our inaugural conference. But we expect more college squads to join as soon as we get this tournament off the ground.”
Having collegiate teams in a regular tournament is nothing new for the PSL.
In the past, collegiate squads like University of Perpetual Help DALTA System, UST, UP, and UE were given the chance to join in the Invitational Conference.
But with the formation of the CGS, the collegiate field will be very competitive, as there will be a division solely dedicated to young players who are looking to play in the country’s most prestigious club league in the future.
“We expect these young players to join the club ranks in the next couple of years. That’s why we realized that we should develop them this early and prepare them for the tough grind ahead,” said Juico. “We’re looking forward to harnessing more talents through a successful staging of this developmental tournament.”
The league will raise its curtain on October 30, but the CGS and formal opening ceremony will be held on November 3 at the Filoil Flying V Centre.
