Brooke Van Sickle has reaffirmed her unwavering commitment to joining Alas Pilipinas.
The 26-year-old Fil-Hawaiian outside hitter had initially expressed her intent to suit up for the national team last year.
Van Sickle received a formal invite to join the pool last Tuesday night after Petro Gazz’s hard-fought four-set victory over ZUS Coffee at the Philsports Arena.
She made her stance clear, declaring herself “1,000 percent” committed to the program, which will kick off its preparations for upcoming international competitions immediately after the 2024-25 PVL All-Filipino Conference concludes in April.
“I’m like one thousand percent committed. But yeah, I need to switch. But it’s not my choice, I do want to, so hopefully it happens,” Van Sickle told Tiebreaker Times.
Alas Pilipinas faces a busy schedule this year, with upcoming appearances in the AVC Challenge Cup, SEA V.League, and Southeast Asian Games.
According to PVL president and PNVF National Teams chairman Ricky Palou, the federation will begin processing the transfer papers for Van Sickle and Savannah Davison as soon as they receive confirmation from both players.
“We’ve already sent them invitations last Tuesday after their respective PVL games, and we’re expecting their answers within the week,” Palou said.
(C) PVL Images
Van Sickle, the reigning PVL All-Filipino Conference MVP, shared that both Petro Gazz management and the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) are currently finalizing the details of her potential stint with the national team.
“We’ve been talking to them, the management of Petro Gazz is just talking to them tonight. Just figuring out the details, figuring out how the schedule is in the summer because it does conflict with the Reinforced,” said Van Sickle, whose mother hails from San Emilio, Ilocos Sur.
“So at the end of the day, I am signed with Petro Gazz, so they would have to let me go and play. But there is talk that yeah, we’re gonna switch federations very soon.”
Despite the logistical challenges, Van Sickle remains hopeful that everything will fall into place as she looks forward to playing alongside the country’s top talents and representing the Philippines on the international stage.
“Hopefully it works out, fingers crossed. We’ll continue to work as hard as possible and hopefully we get the opportunity. It would just be really cool to get to meet everyone, they’re really good players so it’s exciting, yeah.”
