STANDOUTS from the Premier Volleyball League can now be loud and proud to say that they are professional players in their resume.
Believing that it is the right time to turn pro, Creamline’s Alyssa Valdez, the country’s biggest draw in the sport, welcome this latest development that will boost PVL’s status next year.
“I hope this will help the teams, the players, and the league and the volleyball community in the long run,” said Valdez’s during Friday night’s online press conference.
“May iloo-look forward na ang bawat volleyball players. May bagong motivation na tayo para sa mga bawat manlalaro ng volleyball. So I hope this really bring very good or competitive volleyball dito sa atin sa PVL and sa volleyball community,” she added.
The precursor of the defunct V-League, which initially started as a school-based league in 2004 and became a club competition seven years later, the PVL is set become the country’s first pro volleyball league.
The PVL was supposed to open its fourth season last May but was shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the league gets government permission to restart the tournament, the PVL will open on February or March inside a bubble in Calamba or Los Baños, Laguna.
Rebisco’s Jonathan Ng, who owns both Creamline and Choco Mucho, was happy that the PVL has finally became a pro league.
“One anecdote that I can give when we asked about our players on what they felt about going pro, one of the players said, ‘Sir, akala ko pro na tayo?’ As what (Sports Vision president) Ricky (Palou) was saying, I trust that all the teams have been running their respective teams professionally,” said Ng.
“Now that we have been invited and trusted the system, we believe that this is a step forward not only for the players, but also for the sport,” he added.
Bea De Leon, Choco Mucho’s ace middle blocker, knows that being a pro entails great responsibilities, but the transition would not be hard for her and the rest of her fellow PVL players.
“In terms of conducting ourselves I think, at least naman in the semi-pro from a perspective of a player, we’d like to think not much would change,” said De Leon.
“Of course, we acknowledge the fact that in any league we have to hold ourselves in a certain type of way, and that is to be as professional as we can be regardless of our age and regardless of where we are or status in the league,” she added.
For PetroGazz team manager Camille Cruz and BaliPure team manager Gil Cortez, having a pro volleyball league is a huge step forward for the game.
“It’s a privilege for the players right now. It’s a player’s dream to step into a league na professional. Kami sa PetroGazz, we are happy for the collegiate and grassroots players because they now have something to go to,” said Cruz, a product of the successful La Salle women’s volleyball program.
